“Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.”
Jude 1:3 NLT
Jude faces an infinitely pastoral problem as he sits down to write this letter. On the one hand, he has a strong desire to write about salvation. This is of paramount importance in his mind and it is no doubt an important facet of his pastoral ministry to the people around him. I imagine that he felt he needed something more, Pauline to give to his specific people. Yet, the Holy Spirit was tugging at him to write something more apologetic. We know from history that Jude was right to write this letter because, if he did indeed write a letter about salvation, it was not chosen to be preserved in the canon of scripture. Instead, this letter is the one that has informed the church through the centuries. In our walk with God, sometimes we must pivot. All of Christendom is built on this type of flexibility. You can see it summarized in the statement of Jesus, “not my will, but your will be done.” We must trust God to know what is best for our hearts to focus upon. This is how we can be effective teachers, counselors, and parents. We must always bathe in prayer and time for discernment in the path God lays out for us. Perhaps we may want to give something that, while a good desire, is not useful for the cause according to our commander in Christ. Be open to pivoting for the good of the Kingdom.
This post first appeared at JoshMcGary.com
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