How Sure is Your Hope?
In earlier days, before bridal showers became popular, young women filled hope chests with things they needed once they married–table linens, bed sheets, silverware and dishes. If something caught their eye as they shopped, they bought it for their Hope Chest.
I have a cedar chest that is 3.5 feet long by 1.5 feet high and deep. I wonder if it once served as someone’s hope chest. Hope chests might have been any container from various-sized chests to trunks.
In those days, there was an expectancy to marry that exceeded a simple wish. Wish is such a flimsy word. You “wish” when you desire something that really seems out of reach. But “hope” is pregnant with expectancy. Young women “hoped” to marry.
Whether marriage or employment or whatever it is you expect to experience, that’s something you hope for.
In Christian circles, it means we have the hope of heaven because of Jesus’ work on the Cross. We don’t just wish we might go to heaven, we hope–expect–to get there when the time is right.
According to Romans 8:22-25, all creation awaits redemption with eagerness. And we await the redemption of our bodies.
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:24-25 NIV)
The prophet Jeremiah warned the people of Judah of their coming exile because Babylonian captivity loomed ahead. But he also offered hope, hope that someday they would be restored as a nation and return to their land. Jeremiah went so far as to purchase land for himself as a symbol that someday people would again own their own property (Jeremiah 32:15).
The people of Judah eventually returned to their homeland. And just as surely our hope of heaven will be realized.
But the only way to live with the hope of heaven is to realize that we are sinners, we have done things that are wrong in God’s eyes. Admitting that is called repentance. Then we believe that Jesus died to take the punishment we deserve.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 NIV)
Once we make the decision to rely on Christ’s goodness instead of our own, our lives are changed. After all, we want to get to know God on this side of heaven if we hope to spend eternity with Him. So we read our Bibles and pray. We strive to live lives pleasing to God.
Enter this new year with determination to walk with God, getting to know Him better, and with the hope of heaven filling your heart with peace.
Questions for Reflection:
- What is something you hope for in the year ahead?
- What changes in your life show that you hold the hope of heaven in your heart?
- How would you explain to someone that they too can know the hope of heaven? Share your explanation with someone.
