…keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Jude 1:21 NIV
In God’s Love
Any town with a name like Saint-Valentin would be foolish not to milk that for all it was worth every February. And the citizens of Saint-Valentin, Que. are no fools. The rural community of around 450 people, south of Montreal, calls itself “The Capital of Love.” Every year, leading up to Valentine’s Day, the community celebrates the Festival de la Saint-Valentin, a popular event in the Montérégie region that brings hundreds of people to town. After a week of family events, the community gathers on Feb. 14 for a Lover’s Evening, complete with dinner and a show.
***
I was watching a YouTube video recently from a former member of a well-known cult who had come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He was saying that while they talk about the love of God, it is not agape, no-strings-attached love that the Bible speaks about. It is a love dependent on keeping all the rules and doing enough, whatever enough means. Many Christians incorrectly think the same thing – that somehow we have to earn God’s love. That is so not Biblical. What then does the apostle mean, in Jude 1:21, when he says, “…keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” God’s love does not waver. We do not keep it alive; it keeps us alive. To keep ourselves in God’s love means returning daily to grace. It means resisting the lie that we must earn what Christ has already secured. It means waiting—patiently and confidently—for mercy, not judgment. We live between promise and fulfillment, sustained by hope. When life gets challenging, rest in Jesus Christ with expectation.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley