Make Defense A Priority!

Jude 1:3
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

Contemporary English Version
My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God’s saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people.

If you had a list of things to do and one of them was defense, you are supposed to make it a priority. Defense is handled first before handling anything else. Defense is given a larger share of the budget. Defense is given attention first and attended to first. That is what it means to make defense a priority.

The defense has to do with protecting that which you already have from destruction. If you are at risk of losing what you already have, you defend it, you protect it. You may be at risk of losing the health you have, you do not do anything else, you prioritize your health, you stop everything else and defend your health, do all it takes to preserve your health. That is what it means to make defense a priority!

If there is a threat to your life or that of your loved ones, it becomes a priority to protect your life and that of your loved ones. You cannot do it after a critical annual exam. You cannot do it after signing a business deal. You cannot do it after making a marriage proposal. You cannot do it after worship unless worship is part of the process to defend that life from loss. When you live everything else aside in order to attend to something, that something is said to have been prioritized. The defense must always be made a priority!

During a global pandemic, health is prioritized over everything else, that is why economies are shut down to ensure the disease is first controlled. Communities are locked down and the all-important activities like education, worship, and meetings are made secondary and are suspended. Places are locked down not just to stop the spread of disease but also to ensure the spread is slow and health workers and facilities can handle numbers of sick people flocking. Places are also locked down so that the risk out there can sink into people’s minds. Lockdowns do not stop the spread, it slows the spread so that systems of health do not get overwhelmed. Health and life become a priority over everything else.

When health and life are secure, other things come to the top as a priority. Education becomes a priority. The economy becomes a priority. Religious activities become a priority. What is made a priority is that which compared to all others, must be handled first by all means. Make defense a priority!

Matthew 24:16
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24:17-18
(17) Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. (18) Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.

Matthew 24:20-21
(20) Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. (21) For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

Jesus told His disciples about the end of time suffering. He told them that when persecution begins, those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. Preservation of life becomes a priority. The property you lose while fleeing is not a priority. Jesus said, do not risk your life by going back for valuables back in the house. Jesus said run away and preserve your life. DEfending your life is a priority over valuables that will definitely be lost. Make defense a priority!

As Jesus continues to tell them about prioritizing life over valuables, He changes tune suddenly. Jesus tells them that they should pray that their flight from persecution will not be on Sabbath or cold season (winter). Keeping warm from winter that can kill you is a priority. Breaking the Sabbath is offending God. What Jesus is telling us is that, while the defense of life is a priority, we should be careful not to make obedience to God’s law secondary. As you defend your life, remember that defending the faith is much more important. Make defense of faith a priority!

Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Daniel discovered that what was at stake was not his life but his faith. When life is at stake you defend life. When faith is at stake you defend the faith. Daniel was a slave in Babylon, he couldn’t run away. Daniel realized the question to be answered is not about life, but about faith. Daniel made faith the priority and defended it. Make defense a priority!

Matthew 12:11-12
(11) He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? (12) How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath is a priority, but not when emergencies occur. When an emergency occurs, the Sabbath is no longer a priority. Emergencies like sheep falling into a pit. Sheep don’t fall into pits as per calendar or announcements or plans, it is accidental and emergency. Critical national exams are not emergencies or accidents. Duties at work are not accidents. Making money is not an accident. Attending social events is not an accident. Only emergencies have a priority over the Sabbath. The Sabbath remains a priority unless an emergency occurs. Defend the Sabbath when there is no emergency calling on you to defend life. Make defense a priority!

You cant attend weddings on Sabbath, it is not an emergency. You cant go shopping or eating out in restaurants on Sabbath, because that is not an emergency. You cant do cleaning on Sabbath because that is not an emergency. You cant study on Sabbath because it is not an emergency and you have a whole week to do it. Where there is no emergency, the Sabbath becomes the priority that needs defense. Make defense a priority!

Our main text today from the book of Jude 1:3 tells us that Jude wanted to write to the church a letter celebrating their faith and salvation. However, an emergency occurred because their faith was threatened by false leaders and teachers. Jude tells the church that he will not write what he planned to write because the defense of the faith is a priority over the celebration of faith. Make defense of faith a priority!

Defense of our faith is one of the things that need to be prioritized. When you prioritize something, it is because you understand its importance. Our faith is threatened daily through adverts, blogs, media releases, political pronouncements, directives by authorities, trends being reported, etc. When we do not react to defend the faith when these things happen, it is because we do not understand it enough to care and prioritize it. Sometimes it is because we are collaborators with evil and we find it hard to condemn ourselves. Make defense of faith a priority!

There are many things to defend. Defend your life and health. Defend your finances from being stolen or wasted. Defend your school grades from dropping down. Defend your relationships from breaking. Above all else, defend your faith from being compromised or totally lost. Make defense a priority! May God help us towards this end, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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