Build Up and Keep Up

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Jude 1:20-21

These verses are the "to do" in response to scoffers during the end times. I'm struck that we are not told to argue for or defend our beliefs. We are instructed to build ourselves up in our most holy faith and keep ourselves in God's love. 

I don't want to get into a theological discussion of the end times. I do think the author was writing to a problem that, at least in some sense, was already occurring. Whether you believe we are in the end times or not, you know we live in a world that openly mocks and despises Christianity and all those who believe in Christ. You can have crazy hair and believe in ancient aliens but, not in the historical Christ. That's the world be live in.

What are we to do? Build yourself up, build each other up. Pray in the Spirit. Keep yourself in God's love. Wait for his mercy to bring you to eternal life. Our faith is built upon knowing Christ. We know Christ because of what we read about him in the Bible and how we trust him in our daily lives. Christ loved us first. We love first. He served. We serve. We don't serve and love just those who might love and serve us reciprocally.  We love and serve everyone. That's were faith really comes into action and becomes real and alive. By faith we wait upon his mercy and by faith we show mercy and the love of God builds us up in our most holy faith. Be build up and keep up brothers and sisters in Christ!

How Will You Build Yourself Up?

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Jude 1:20-21 NIV

Sometimes we forget that our faith is interactive. There is the the "what we do" part.

As a teacher I can't tell you how many times I have been in a

conference with a student and their parent(s) discussing the need for the student to complete and turn in their assignments. The parents will tell me they see their child doing the work. When I tell them the work is not being turned in they (usually with a look of exasperation) grab their child's backpack and (usually with a look of unbelief mixed with embarrassment) they begin to pull out paper after paper of assignments never turned in.  

How many people just go to church but never turn anything in? Do you attend church or participate in your church. This is the part of Christianity that is interactive. Christianity, discipleship, is about experiencing God's love, his mercy and grace by living it out in our relationships. We pray in the Holy Spirit. We keep ourselves in God's love. 

What do athletes do to build themselves up? Baseball players play baseball. Basketball players play basketball. Football players play football. Get the point? As Christians we should act like Christ. Today, how will you build yourself up?