How do we use the word... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

We have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul.
Hebrews 6:18-19

How do we use the word "hope" in everyday life? Here are some examples: We climb a rickety ladder - and hope it will hold. We leave at a certain time - and hope to arrive on time. We change jobs - and hope that things will get better. We hope so ... But these hopes are often very uncertain because they do not have sufficient justification: no solid basis. A stable hope that actually leads to the hoped-for goal needs, like an anchor, a secure hold or a fortification.

Unanchored hopes are particularly critical when it comes to our eternal destiny. Thus, unfortunately, there are many people who think they live decently - and who therefore hope that God will accept them one day. Others, on the other hand, live as if there were neither God nor eternity - and yet it can happen that at their funeral service others are asked to think of them as ‘being in heaven': just as a pastor once said of someone who had blasphemed God until his last breath, "I hope the deceased will get used to heaven, because after all he never wanted to know about it on earth."

How can one be so flippant about hope and putting off going to heaven!

When the Bible speaks of hope, it does not mean something uncertain, but something reliable, which, however, is still future. The certainty of hope that all believers have lies in the resurrection of Jesus: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3). Jesus lives - this is the sure and firm anchor of believers.

Today's reading: Numbers 24:14-25 · Matthew 14:1-13