Now that you’re older, do you still have hopes and dreams for your life?
Casting our vision to the future can be motivating.
Yet, if those hopes and dreams get dashed, we may feel defeated.
Certainly the apostles felt that range of emotions as they walked with Jesus. There was hope and elation as Jesus performed miracles and spoke of God’s kingdom. Then, there was despair as he was arrested, tortured, and crucified.
Hope, though, returned when they saw and talked with the resurrected Jesus!
God places in us the desire of hope. The most important hope is the one a Christ follower has: living for eternity in God’s presence.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV).
This hope is not dependent on us connecting dots in the right order for the dream’s shape to become reality. It is a hope destined by God and given through Jesus. It is a hope realized in the resurrection of Jesus after he offered himself as the sacrifice for the sin of mankind. It is a hope sealed by the Holy Spirit for the faithful believer.
Romans 15:4 tells us that “everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (NIV). May we steadfastly and wholeheartedly love God and obey the commands of Jesus. May we be motivated by knowing God and the blessings of his presence joined with the anticipation of our future, eternal presence with him and his rewards given for our faithful service (1 Corinthians 5:3-15).
This hope supersedes circumstances and disappointments, because God has already promised eternity with him for those who keep faith in Christ – and God keeps his promises. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23 NIV). Confident in this, we can experience joy and peace in him.
Now and each day, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NIV, letter M in Keep on Track Volume 2).
Set your mind on God’s hope each day as you work though a Keep on Track book. Share the hope with others when you use it in a small group!