What We Hope For Keeps Us Going

Hope Is A Critical Factor in Life

Several years ago, I went through suicide intervention training. We learned how to identify people who were suicidal and get them the help they needed. We learned that one reason people reach this point of thinking about taking their own life is they have no hope.

What we hope for keeps us going. It drives us push forward, to drive on, because we’re aiming for something. That thing gives us hope.

What God Has Revealed Gives Us Hope

Hope is important. But what is it that gives us hope? That's the key. For a lot of people, there are many things that give them hope. Retirement, college degree, new job, etc. However, these things give a limited hope, a shallow hope. Let's face it, the things we hope for apart from Christ leave us empty and give us no real hope at all. In fact, the end result is the same with all of them: death!

So what is it that gives us hope? What God has revealed in the Bible. In fact, there are several things He has revealed that give us hope.

  1. Understanding the Story Line of the Bible - It's important for us to understand what God is doing in the Bible. From front to back, God is redeeming His people, purchasing them with the blood of Christ.

  2. What the Bible Teaches about God and Other Things (Theology) - In the story line, God shows you that He loved, chased you down, and rescued you. From this story we learn about different things. Who God is, how sinful we are, who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is, how God saves, what we are supposed to do, and so on. These are branches of systematic theology. Knowing not just the story line but these other things that the Bible teaches is our only true source of Hope.
How Do These Things Give Us Hope?

So we learn about God or ourselves, how do these things give us hope? Apart from Christ our plight is death, wrath, and destruction. But what God has revealed to us in the Bible reminds us that our destiny is different. God has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son!

Also, knowing how sinful we are and knowing who God is, tells us how gracious He is. This softens our hearts and leads us to love and appreciate Him more. It also helps affirm that our place is with Him in eternity.

Action Steps:

  1. As you read the Bible, don't read it just for the nugget of truth for today. See the story line, see what God is doing to bring you to the end goal - eternal glory with Him!

  2. When you read the Bible, learn about the things I mentioned above (e.g., who God is, how sinful we are, etc.). This will take much more effort than seeing the story line, but learning these things should cause you to love Him more.

  3. Savor the benefits you have in Christ. It will only get better!

To learn more, visit The Justified Sinner

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