Devotion 4: Contention For Hearts
Our enemy, Satan, is contending for our souls. He seeks a believer to “devour,” as 1 Peter 5:8 puts it. He does this with great tenacity in our culture and world because, as Revelation 12:12 says, “He knows that his time is short!” As believers seeking to please God with our lives, we can never let our guard down. Whether at work, school, or even at our church gatherings, the enemy has influences everywhere that are seeking to cause us to stumble into sin. Jude speaks to this contention for believers.
Jude 1:3-4 says, “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Jude appears to have altered what he initially wanted to write about to instead send a strong message in response to the “certain people” who crept in. They were people who the enemy used to cause believers to go astray. The enemy is contending for your heart. Fortunately, there is another Who also makes contention for you.
A sign of a strong church is that there are people in it who are also contending for souls with a tenacity that exceeds our enemy’s. Staff, leadership, and mature volunteers alike share this responsibility. In 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter reminds the believers he is writing to about the qualities a believer has because of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ so that they can confirm their calling and election in Him. Particularly in verse 13, he says, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder.” He finds it necessary not to just let the course of life go on but to intentionally and purposefully stir up the church toward reflecting the glory of Christ in their hearts. The mature in Christ must be doing this with those earlier in their journey in the faith. The author of Hebrews puts it this way:
Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
The enemy knows we are most vulnerable when we are separated from each other both in physical proximity and in our alignment with Christ. If you are a believer established in the faith, do you seek to bring others together in the body of Christ? Do you speak boldly and contend for the hearts of younger believers the way Jude and Peter did? Think about how the Lord wants to use you to minister to others in your church. The enemy is making contention for the souls of our people, but God may want to use you to facilitate an even stronger contention for them. Be willing to be used by Him!