Much has been made of hope during the political campaign. Why is that? Because for many people hope is in short supply. Where does hope come from? Hope comes from faith.
Hope is the grounds for expecting things to be better in the future. Do the people around you expect things to get better? Or do they despair of things getting better? Is their future looking bright and glorious? For many around us hope has been lost in the effort to live life while estranged from our life – Jesus.
Even when lives look good, hopelessness isn’t far away when we live apart from God. The evil one uses hopelessness to devastate us. “What’s the use?” “Why try?” “Nothing will ever go right.” These are not messages from the hope of the world, Jesus. They are the messages from the sworn enemy of our King and of our world.
As disciples of Christ, we exhibit an unmistakable hope. We know that not even death, the ultimate villain, can rob us of hope in the future. How could martyrs face death if not for hope? It doesn’t make sense to anyone apart from the hope we share in Christ.
Hope is a gift we can give to others. We can share the hope that allows us to face uncertainty and even death without fear. Our hope is Jesus. Nothing in this world, not wealth, not health, no political party, nothing can give us the hope we have in Jesus.
Ask around. Ask people about their hope for the future. If they can’t find a reason to hope–give them yours. Explain why you have hope as it says in 1 Peter 3:15, “…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” Go ahead ask around and give away what we have been freely given.
October 29, 2008 at 9:59 pm
if as Christians we can’t express the hope we have by sharing the joy we know in Jesus Christ, then we are like clanging bells and tinkling cymbals. Faith is being sure of what we HOPE for… Keep running the race!