“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25 KJV)
Here we are at the end of 2011. Perhaps we have not achieved all our goals. Perhaps we still have a way to go in spiritual maturity. Perhaps . . . Perhaps . . .
It is true that Scripture teaches us to stop practicing a sinful lifestyle and grow in the Lord. Yet, despite our best efforts, we are still limited in our ability to sanctify ourselves entirely. We are limited in spirit, soul, and body. We are limited in our ability to achieve a blameless life. We don’t seem able to even maintain the Christmas spirit into the new year, much less til Jesus comes.
We should neither be discouraged by this reality nor make it an excuse to stop doing our best. Instead, it should remind us of our dependence on Christ through the Holy Spirit. Our God who called us is also the One who is able to keep us from falling. After our best effort has ended, he continues to sanctify us. After we have gone the limit, he takes over and preserves our spirit, soul, and body through Calvary and the resurrection. He is faithful! He will make us faultless!
Just as the end of 2011 is near, so too is the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We may not have achieved everything we wanted to achieve for him. We may not have grown as much as we wanted to. We may not have been as faithful as we should have been. We may not have received all the answers to our prayers. Let us give it all to him in the firm confidence that he is faithful and he will do in us everything he intended when he called us.
Dear Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Thank you for preserving us. Empower us to renew our commitment to your service. Enable us to be faithful to the end. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be courageous in your faithfulness,