Believer versus Unbeliever

VERSE:                                  Jude 12‑13

    These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.  They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds;  late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;  raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

REFLECTION:

    What is this verse talking about?  These are some pretty dark and lonely images.  Do you feel like one of these things?  Jude is talking about unbelievers.  As we sit down to eat our feast daily, we sit with unbelievers, be they are family members, friends, or total strangers in a restaurant.  They feast with us as if everything is normal.  They have no fear that they may be cast into eternal life, and go about their business serving only themselves.  If you are an unbeliever, your only life is here on earth.  You must make the most of it, and do things to please yourself. 

    The harsh reality of it all is the pictures that are painted in these verses:

   * An unbeliever is just a cloud pushed by the wind, serving no purpose on the earth except to block out some "Son" light. Believers are clouds, full of the living water, ready to rain down the love of Christ on those unbelievers.

   * Unbelievers do not bear fruit in the harvest of summer or in the twilight of their life.  They are dead spiritually, and will soon die physically, never producing the fruit that God wanted.  They are rooted in things other than God's word.  Believers are also like an autumn tree that can still generate fresh fruit, crisp and sweet, like the word of God.  Believers are growing strong rooted in the word of God.

   * An unbeliever is a tumultuous sea, their shame foaming up, and their tragedies crashing like waves against each other. A believer is a placid calm sea, calmed by the tender love and mercy of Jesus Christ even during tumultuous storms.

   * An unbeliever is a wandering star soon to be consumed by a black hole snuffed out by the sins of life and spiritually dying with no twinkle left to gleam.  A believer is a bright shining star, shining the light of Christ so all the world can see. 

Which one are you, believer or unbeliever?

PRAYER:

    Pray that you will bear the fruit that God wants you to bear and that you will always shine bright the light of Jesus Christ.