How quickly does the average family go through a package of Oreos? I’m not sure my family is normal. It seems that when we purchase a package, it only sits in our pantry for a few minutes before one of my kids has torn them open and downed a sleeve. When I get a craving, I just hope that there are some left.
This kind of hope is petty. The hope Christians should have is of major significance. The hope of the Bible is defined as the desire of some good with the expectation of obtaining it. Vines Bible Dictionary says that hope is “favorable and confident expectation.” The hope we Christians should have is something we can depend on even though it is unseen and in the future. This hope is what we hold on to. It is not just wishing for something to happen but believing and knowing it will. Faith and hope are just about synonymous. We have to hold on to our hope in the same way we fortify our faith. Remember how vital faith was at the beginning of your Christian walk. Hope is just as essential, and it requires us to hold on to it our whole lives just as much as we are faithful until death (Rev. 2:10). We are to be holding on to hope to the end.
If you have wavered recently in your hope, remember to go back and start at the beginning again and remember the hope you once had. Jesus tells the church in Ephesus. “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Revelation 2:5). There is so much packed into this message to this struggling church with which we can learn. But, for a moment, focus on this phrase. “remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first;”. At the start of your Christian, you were gung ho about your new hope. Jesus wants us to hold on to that hope. He wants us to remember where we were and repeat the works we did at the start.
When we hold on to our hope, we strengthen our faith in what will be. Hope is real. Hope is assurance.
Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and righteousness. We dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid rock we stand. All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.
So let’s be holding our hope!
Maybe the next time you go for some Oreos, your hope will be a reality, and you can down a sleeve. Just leave a couple for the next guy.
I love you,
Alexander