Hope in Christ

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

 

Believers in Christ are the only people on earth with true hope. There is no other reliable source of genuine hope in the universe, as men without God can only look upon their past with regret, their present with frustration, and their future with dread. The outlook is bleak for the sinner, and every attempt at hope without God is a fairy tale and empty promises that cannot be fulfilled by the one making them. God's children are the only people on earth who can reasonably expect and declare that the best is yet to come. 

The Bible teaches us to be intensely forward-looking. That is because we have only begun to understand the height, breadth, and depth of the Father's love. It will truly take all eternity and more to exhaust the vastness of our God, and the Lord would have us embrace that eternal perspective today. When we focus on heaven, nothing that happens on earth, good or bad, can stumble us or discourage us. We have the blessed outlook of those who seek the Lord and celebrate His goodness no matter the circumstance. May we take hold of God's promises and embrace a heavenly outlook on all the joys and challenges before us. 

But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Let's Pray - Dear God, I gladly lay all my care and hopes at Your feet. You are the reason for the confidence in which I walk. In Jesus, Amen.