May 10, 2006
Where Is Our Hope?
A friend of mine sent this in email. It is thought provoking and I thought I'd include it here.
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I've been pondering this verse as of late. "1Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"
The Strong's concordance says "hope to the end" also includes setting our hope COMPLETELY ..on the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Wow. How often my hope is other places! Like, "I hope the weather cools down, or I hope I don't get caught in the snow or I hope bird flu doesn't get to ____." But my hope is to be fully, unto the end, focused on Christ's coming....wow.
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It doesn't seem like it is wrong to express ourselves that way, but we should always keep in mind where our hope is. In other words, when we say, "I hope we don't get a bad storm tonight," we should not be thinking in terms of chance or luck. Our hope should be in the Lord, and our thoughts should be that we hope He will spare us that, or whatever the situation implies.
Perhaps a better word would be "pray" - "I pray the weather cools down." "I pray I don't get stuck in the snow." And so forth. But, if we are going to say that, then we need to make sure we do pray for those things and not just talk about it! :-) 1Thess. 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin on Calvary.
- Norman J. Clayton
Psalm 39:7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
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