Contenders

Jude, excited and bubbling over at life following Jesus, decides to write to others he’s mentored and known.

Except, things have gone sideways.

They—the ones he’s writing to—are not experiencing the joy he is. They’re experiencing something much different. And in the process, they’re becoming slaves again to sin and Satan.

Jude gives them four simple steps to fix this:

1. Build up your faith.
2. Pray.
3. Keep yourselves focused on God’s love.
4. Wait for Jesus.

What’s the common thread here?

Discipline.

All four are actions that take both effort and intentionality.

What’s interesting to me is that Jude doesn’t spiritualized the problem. Instead, he gets practical. He says, life is hard, so buckle down and do the work.

There are plenty of things out of our control. But some of our problems are sitting right in our own laps.

That, to me, is good news.