Good Morning All,
1 Timothy 4:10; “For to this end we toil and strive, because
we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of
those who believe.”
The English language is a strange beast.
How a word is pronounced or how it is used can vary and be dependent upon the
person using the word. For example, the word “stock” means something different
to a person who raises animals, to a person who is a race car driver, to a gunsmith,
and to a person of finance. The word “unionized” means (and is pronounced)
differently between a scientist and a member of the Teamsters. (un-ionized to
union-ized). Words can be difficult and frustrating but what can be very
frustrating to a Christian is when the devil and the world take really good
Bible words and mushes them all up and uses them to mean something altogether
different.
Hope is one of those words. In the worldly vernacular,
hope is a flimsy, worthless, imagination of folly. When people use the word “hope,”
you can almost sense that they think their “hope” is lost. I hope my team wins
the World Series this year even though they have never won one and they traded
their best players for some unknowns. I hope I have better crops this year than
last year even though I am not changing anything from last year. I hope I win
the Powerball lottery even if the odds are 292.2 million to 1. So, when we use
the word hope like this, what good is there in having your hope set on the
living God? How can that possibly be of any value?
“Hope” in the Bible refers to the expectation
of future good because of past events. Hope is a certainty not a flimsy wish. I
hope that when I get out of bed, my feet hit the floor. Gravity has not failed before,
and it won’t fail now. So, playing with English words, we can read “our hope
set on the living God” and think “our ANCHOR set on the living God.” Our hope is in God. We can anchor ourselves to
this truth. We can hold onto God’s great promises of forgiveness and salvation
and eternal life in the face of every earthly life storm.
There is no greater power or force than God’s
love for you. He shows us that love in the person of Jesus, whose death and
resurrection gives us hope. It is our anchor into God’s rock of love. We will
be battered, slammed, and attacked by everything this world has, yet just like
the ship that rides out the storm because it is anchored safely in the cove, we
too, are safe, anchored in the resurrection of Jesus and secure in his loving
arms. We “wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” That is our hope, that is our anchor. We
have Jesus and more importantly, He has us.
Gracious Father, our hope is in You because of your great promises which
never fail. Help us to always know the confidence of your grace and the
certainty of your mercy that declares us your children. Keep our hearts and
minds safe in the knowledge of your love. Defend those who are struggling and
send Your Spirit that they may know Your peace. In the precious name of Jesus
we pray, amen.
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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