Message from Scripture: 5/21/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today is Rom. 8:26-27. “Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience.”

 

A word frequently used in many conversations is hope.  The dictionary defines hope as “to expect with desire.”  We hope for rain, then we hope for sunshine. We hope for warmer weather, then we hope for cooler weather. We hope to accomplish certain things, then we hope certain things don’t happen, and on it goes.

 

Sometimes, we hope against hope.  This is a way of saying we hope even though there is no real basis to expect whatever we hope for really happening.  Many of the things we hope for in life are like that.  We want and desire a great many things, without any real basis except for our wants and desires.  Perhaps this is why so many people’s hopes end in despair.

 

As Christians we have a “living” hope, in contrast to all the dead promises others make, but never are able to bring to pass.  We can trust God to do what He has said because of His nature as God. The issue then is whether we will live in such a way that this hope becomes reality for us. One can profess to having such a hope, but it’s an empty claim if one’s life isn’t in harmony with the will of God. Scripture makes it clear we must “continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel” (Col. 1:23). Hope is a real and powerful factor in daily Christian living, but without daily Christian living, there can be no real hope.

 

We have full assurance that our hope in Christ will become reality. May we live in such a way that we truly share in this hope, not as an empty desire, but a lifestyle filled with promise (Heb. 6:11). With so great a hope, may we use our lives to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God bless.

 

Robert