hope beyond hope
There’s nothing more pitiful than a person who hopes in things that will surely disappoint. From a child who hopes to achieve something that she is incapable of accomplishing to an adult who hopes to banish suffering and pain from a fallen existence that is grounded in those realities, it’s a sad thing. For there is nothing in this life which will not eventually fail us, particularly if we have placed most or all of our hopes and dreams on those things.
But the most pitiful of all are those who profess to have faith in Jesus Christ, whose hope is in the things of this life, rather than in The One Who is Life Himself, both in this life and in the life to come. Paul says of them, and perhaps of you and me, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19).
This is why God jealously guards our Hope in Christ, the birthright of every believer, that reasoned and reasonable trust in The One Who keeps all His Promises, including the Promise of Life Abundant here and eternal forever. In order to ensure that we continue to believe in Christ Jesus our Hope (1 Timothy 1:1), Christ may resort to undermining our placing our hope in anyone or anything other than Himself. However, He would prefer that we prefer Him first, as we engage in disciplines which convert us away from false hopes to The True Hope in Christ which will not disappoint us (Romans 5:5).
Disciplines of devotion will lead us away from the fake hopes of the world, the flesh, and the devil towards The One Whose Hope becomes the anchor of our soul (Hebrews 6:19). Sabbath practices wean us from overindulgence and overdependence on things which demand exhausting commitments from us. Disciplines of Fellowship draw us away from finding hope in ourselves only. Practices of stewardship wean us from storing up treasures and experiences to forestall inevitable losses and death itself.
May you and I ask, seek, and knock at God’s Door for that Hope which is beyond hope. And may we always be prepared to give an account for that Hope which is within us (1 Peter 3:15), and may others see that The Hope which balances our life’s ledger is in Christ alone.