Reflections on a Song of Praise

Jude 24-25
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

This doxology from Jude's short little letter is one of my favorite in all of Scripture.  The word doxology comes from the latin words for "praise" and "to speak" so usually it's just called a "hymn of praise".  Jude's message is all about living in the truth and persevering to the end.  It is fitting then that he ends his message in this way. 

I'm a pretty klutzy person, so it's not entirely unheard of for me to lose my balance on a perfectly level surface. Typically in everyday life though, the risk of stumbling is only present when the way is rough. This promise that Jesus will keep you from stumbling would have no importance if the road was always smooth, so it must imply something about the life of a follower of Jesus. 

Imagine you're going on a walk and you come to a split in the path. One way is paved smooth, has signs indicating what's ahead, and is clearly headed toward civilization. The other way looks like it hasn't been touched in years. It's more like a well worn deer trail through the woods. It's uneven, has muddy potholes, and leads into the mountains. Who knows if it even goes anywhere! 

Which one would you choose? While the intrigue of the unknown might call me for a minute, I would eventually take the paved way because I want to make it back alive. And because if anything were to happen to me, I have plenty of friends and family would would yell at me for doing anything so risky! 

Unfortunately, the gospel is not interested in which way is safer. In fact, Jesus promises a difficult life for those who follow him. In Matthew 7:13-14 he says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." Jesus tells his disciples later on, when they are vying to be Jesus' second in command that they don't know what they're asking for (Matt. 20:22). Even the disciples who saw Jesus every day expected that following him would lead to an easy life. But Jesus' call is "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Matt. 16:24). 

Jesus promises to keep us from stumbling not by keeping the path smooth, but by providing us with the strength, maturity, and support we need to keep our balance. In keeping us from stumbling into sin, he may not remove the temptation, but he will always give us the strength to withstand it or the resources to run (I Cor. 10:13).  

Running from sin can be a lot more successful than we often imagine. When you picture yourself saved from sin, do you see yourself as covered in torn clothes, cuts from the jungle brush, with bite marks from the lion you ran from? Or do you picture yourself as clothed in royal robes, and celebrated with joy as blameless? That is what Jude says we are! 

If you know Jesus and have surrendered your life to him, you are not one who has escaped death by the skin of your teeth. You are one whom the only God saved through his son Jesus Christ! As the only God he holds all the glory, he is the most majestic, and he has power over everything in the universe from before it was created, until forever! How can we not praise our God with great joy? 

Yes, the road of the believer is rough and narrow and filled with places to stumble. But the reward is so much greater than any reward we can find if we follow the wide path.