Day 5: Set your hope
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming (1Peter 1:13).
Our Father, the hymnwriter reminds us of the hard reality of this world, Change and decay in all around I see... (Henry F. Lyte, Abide With Me, 1847). But You are our unchanging God, and You have not left us without hope. Indeed, You are God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas… (Psalm 65:5).
Daily, O Lord, You remind us of Your steadfast love, Your unfailing compassion, Your great mercy. By these You stir hope in our soul (Lamentations 3:21-23). Even amid the thorns and thistles sprouting and springing up unceasingly from the sin and corruption of rebellious humanity (Genesis 3:1-19), we see Your glory in the heavens, we feel the warmth of Your sun, the refreshment of Your rain.
And we are confident in the hope of Your promise of restoration, and order, and liberation, and glory. You have rooted in us — and in creation — the joy, hope, and anticipation of a coming freedom and splendor:
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God (Romans 8:19-21).
God, grant us the fortitude, the patience and the endurance to wait in hope, through the painful toil, the thorns and thistles, the drenching sweat, and the hard-caked dust we grapple with because of the curse and corruption of sin (Genesis 3:17-19). Encourage our hearts with the words of the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul:
For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (Romans 8:24-25).
Steady our minds with the exhortation of the apostle Peter to set our hope on the full revelation of Your grace. In all of the turmoil, distractions, chaos and confusion around us, give us vision and clarity. Give us confidence and faith to wait and work with minds that are alert and fully sober.
Comentários