Grand Canyon of the East (Letchworth) in the Winter

Living Your Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. -1 Peter 1:3 (KJV)

Our hopes can range from the critical to the mundane throughout the course of a year. "I hope it doesn't rain" or "I hope I get a raise." Yet in the end what's the use of hoping in something we have little or no control over? With all of our hopes, what is the significance of having hope in Christ? Is the living hope that Peter mentions in 1 Peter 1:3 different from all the other hopes we experience in our lives?

Unlike our everyday hopes, the hope we experience as Christians is living because it is based upon a life, the eternal and resurrected life of Christ. Even more, in 1 Timothy 1:1, Paul describes Christ as our literal hope. Thus, all hope placed in Him will never pass away. Along with faith and love, hope is one of the three things that will last forever (1 Corinthians 13:13). Yet why is hope so important for Christians? Is it reasonable to expect that we can live each day with this kind of living hope?

We must first recognize how our hope in Christ is intricately woven into our faith. The book of Hebrews defines faith as the "substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Hope, like faith, is only as strong as the which we place our hope in. Our hope is powerful because it is based on Jesus' sacrifice. Our hope is only a living hope because it is something that we are able to "live out" in our daily walk. Hope is the most transparent attitude we can have. It is looking forward to a promised fulfilled. It is our excited expectation in Christ's return. Therefore, we should always be ready to explain our hope to anyone who asks (1 Peter 3:15). Others will see its transforming power in our life as we live out our hope. Our hope in Christ is different from the world's hope. It's eternal; it is based on faith and it is living. We don't have to be afraid to share with others. If we're living hopefully, they will probably ask.

Hopefully, I may grow spiritually and mature in faith this year.