“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24)
Somebody said, “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.” Hope isn’t optional. Human beings cannot exist without it.
So the question is, what are we putting our hope in? Paul this week has revealed that his hope – a Christian’s hope – is for one thing and one thing only: the day of the Lord, the day when the “sons of God will be revealed,” the day everything will be put back the way it was meant to be from the beginning.
Until that day, we live on hope. Careful: We don’t live on wishes. We don’t live on maybes. Hope is all about being confident that something will happen. We know our Father will come and get us.
Until then, we’ll live with joy and groaning, peace and pain, and keep hoping in the day we will see our “Abba” face to face.
Think: How would you define this kind of hope in your own words? Why can’t we just exist without something to hope in? What happens when we try?
Pray: Thank God for giving you the hope of an eternity with him as your Father. Ask him to help you to live for that hope.
Do: Read how hope fits into the definition of faith given in Hebrews 11:1.