The wonderous hope

My precious jewel, as you go through your life existing in this ethereal nether that we call humanity, you will be bombarded by ways and purposes that will have the sweet aroma of cotton candy but will have no more substance than the same. In the current time that we live in as I write this, there are constant statements and echoes of this wonderful word that people of the Christian faith call, "hope."

The Pope recently visited our country, and the buzzword of the week was, "hope." In speeches, letters, and even printed on the backs of buses, the word "hope" abounded.

It is also election year, and a certain presidential hopeful whose political career has yet to play out gives testimony to something he calls, "The audacity of hope."

Our very own existing President, addressing the nation, says, "we are a nation of great hope."

It sounds nice, doesn't it?

But now, my jewel, you, knowing your doting mama & papa, know what comes next. It is the question of the obvious, yet the question that nobody wants to ask those in authority in our modern times.

"Hope in what???"

Is it hope in humanity? Hope in the entrepreneurial spirit? Hope in the church? Hope in ourselves? Hope in God? And what does that even mean?

The mandate we have for you echoes 1 Peter 3:15: "...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..."

In what is our hope?

Jesus says in John 10:27-30:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.

If anyone ever asks you to tell them what your hope is in, tell them this:

• That God the Father and Jesus are one.
• That because you follow Jesus, you will be given eternal life.
• That because Jesus gives you eternal life, your place in His eternal kingdom of Heaven is secure. No force that exists in this world can ever snatch you from Jesus' hand.

"But now Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you." - Psalm 39:7

My hope: My hope is that God is who He says He is and that Jesus and He are one. My hope is that because I call upon Him to save me that He will. My hope is that because it is He that saves me, that His salvation is perfect, complete, and indestructible, and that one day my faith and hope in these facts will cease because I will see Him face to face. That is MY hope. I pray that it is yours one day as well.