[248 words]
“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You” (Psalm 33:20-22).
Along with faith and love, hope is named as one of the gifts that would remain when all lesser ones ceased, were stilled, or passed away. Why is hope so important that God would leave it with us? In addition to him telling us that hope does not disappoint, is an anchor for the soul, and is a certainty about that we must take by faith, God also tells us that we all put our hope in something. “No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance” (Psalm 33:16-17). Let us not be like the world who, to find the joy in living, places its hope in the bottle that suppresses, the pleasure that escapes, or the bling that suffocates. Egoism, hedonism, and materialism are vain hopes. Rather, “the eyes of the Lord are on those who hear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine” (Psalm 33:18-19). What a gift hope is for those trusting in God for eternal life and this one we live.
Got hope?
Doug Kashorek
Plattsburgh church of Christ
Plattsburgh, NY