“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.” – 1 Peter 1:3

What makes you hopeful?  Is there anything more hope-filled than a brand-new baby?  Their whole life is in front of them filled with possibilities.

The Apostle Peter speaks of a hope that is born in us – actually, “new” birth.  We’ve already been born physically, but here he’s talking about a spiritual re-birth.  And he speaks of a “living” hope. It’s a hope that is active in the here and now – it’s not something that just engages at a point in the future – particularly, when you die.

This may be a new way of looking at this for you.  We often talk about our Christian hope as though it only offers hope to us for the afterlife.  It certainly does that, but that’s not all it does.

Because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we know we’ll be raised from the dead. This knowledge provides us with an “anchor for our soul” (Hebrews 6:19). 

Just like a swing is anchored to the top bar of the swing-set, but it can provide hours of blissful enjoyment for a child swinging on it.  So too, our hope that is anchored in the truth of eternal life, can provide for us the freedom to explore, love and serve with much more freedom and effectiveness than if we were going through life untethered to hope!

May our lives and ministry be ones that are anchored in eternal life, but joyfully branching out and reaching others with a message of hope and life!

Your fellow servant in Christ,

Pastor Augie

Pastor Augie | July 21, 2020 at 5:58 pm | Tags: blessing, Discipleship, eternal life, faith in action, relationship with god, resurrection, Scripture | Categories: Christian Life, Devotions, Pastor Ponders | URL: https://wp.me/p1TTvd-cK