"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV) Occasionally, we hear about someone who has come to the end of his or her rope. They no longer hope to see a positive conclusion to the circumstances that seem to overwhelm them. As hope begins to slip away, so does faith. When we stop hoping, we stop believing. Moreover, when we stop believing, we stop loving people and dreaming of the future blissful home of our eternal soul. Without faith, hope and love - we feel a great sense of worthlessness and the whole world does not make any sense.
Jerome Groopman, a professor at the Harvard Medical School wrote a book called The Anatomy of Hope. In discussing how he diagnosed patients with serious diseases, he discovered that all of them were "looking for a sense of genuine hope – and indeed, that hope was as important to them as anything he might prescribe as a physician."
Professor Groopman was asked for his definition of hope. He replied: "Basically, I think hope is the ability to see a path to the future.... You are facing dire circumstances, and you need to know everything that's blocking or threatening you. And then you see a path, or a potential path, to get to where you want to be. Once you see that, there's a tremendous emotional uplift that occurs.... I think hope has been, is, and always will be the heart of medicine and healing. We could not live without hope. Even with all the medical technology available to us now, we still come back to this profound human need to believe that there is a possibility to reach a future that is better than the one in the present." source: Rachel K. Sobel, "The Mysteries of Hope and Healing," U.S. News And World Report (1-26-04). We can take one look at the physical demeanor of a person and see if they have no hope. When we have no hope, it literally looks like the wind has been taken out of our sails. Hope is essential for life! We cannot live without hope. God gives us hope for a way out of every situation that may be overwhelming us. When we turn to God, we find renewed strength through hope. Faith, hope and love are invisible qualities of our nature. They are proved to exist by their manifestations. The Bible says about faith: "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." (James 2:14-17 NIV) When we truly hope to have an eternal home for our soul in the paradise that God is preparing, we will be busy making plans for eternity and living with expectation. Speaking about the resurrection of the dead, the apostle Paul writes; "If only in this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." Then, at the conclusion of this discussion, he writes: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:19, 58 NIV) Dear friends, if you are not living with genuine hope for eternal life, then I challenge you to have faith in Jesus Christ who came from Heaven to provide a way of salvation. We can have eternal life by doing the will of God. Believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God; that he died on the cross to take away our sins, and that he rose from the dead on the third day. Now Jesus is in Heaven waiting for the time to bring all the saved to our eternal home. Repent of your sins, love God with all your heart, obey his word, confess your faith in Christ to other people, and be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Never stop hoping -- even when hope seems gone. A beautiful tomorrow is waiting the faithful who die in Christ. You are invited to attend the services of the Church of Christ at the corner of 3rd and E Streets. Write me with any questions or comments David Binkley, Sr., P.O. Box 186, Cedar Key, FL 32625 or E-mail at dgbinkley@aol.com. You may also request to receive the daily WORD OF THE DAY by e-mail. Check out our web site at http://www.cedarkeychurchofchrist.com. |
