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THE IMPORTANCE OF HOPE
MONDAY, APRIL 17
Philippians 1:18-23

2 Corinthians 5:1-10

 

“According to my earnest

expectation and my hope…”

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF HOPE
 
How was Paul able to make such statements? What was the thinking behind such a perspective? Paul was not suicidal or depressed. He did not look upon death as a sort of easy escape from reality, thinking to run away from the misery of prison and persecution. That was certainly not the case.
 
The basis of this desire was according “to (his) earnest expectation and (his) hope” (Phil 1:20). This “hope” was not just wishful thinking, or a wistful desire. It was a conviction based on his strong faith in the hope of eternal life. He was certain that when he died, it would be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). Paul believed in this hope with the full assurance of faith. He knew that what God has promised in His Word will most certainly come to pass. He believed in a sure and certain blessed life after death, and therefore was able to most assuredly proclaim: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21).
 
Do we have the faith to believe this? Can we stare death in the face and declare 1 Corinthians 15:55? “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Do we have this same conviction that not only do we not fear death, but we even look forward to it? The only way we can have such a hopeful desire, to be able to see death as something “far better,” is if we have the absolute certainty based on God’s Word to know where we will spend eternity. This is a hope which Hebrews 6:19 beautifully describes as “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.”
 
The world has much to fear about death because their only hope is in this life. To them, once this life is over, their hope is gone. They have no certainty of what will happen to them after that, so they fear. As believers, we have nothing to fear, but everything to look forward to!
 
THOUGHT: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
PRAYER: Father, grant me the faith to believe in Thy Word, and a hope that is steadfast and sure.

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