We can take things for granted. 

Even hope. 

William Temple paints a bleak picture of not having any hope, nor any belief in the source of hope, God: 

“for man’s moral and spiritual life is in this world a baffled and thwarted enterprise; and the scene of our endeavor is slowly becoming uninhabitable, so that even though men labor for a remote prosperity, yet if this life only is permitted to them, it will one day make no difference whether we have striven or not for noble causes and lofty ideals. An earth as cold as the moon will revolve about a dying sun. Duty and love will have lost their meaning.”*

Yikes.

Contrast that to what the apostle tells us in 1 Peter 1:3-4: “In [God’s] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”

Because of Jesus’ resurrection everything has changed. Death, Satan, sin, illness, violence, pain, darkness and despair all have an end date.

In contrast to Temple’s bleak and hopeless picture, there is always hope.

Our faith is firm and well-grounded. Your acts of service and kindness make a difference. What you see isn’t all there is to see. Better is coming. God is at work.

Hope. Instead of taking it for granted, let it take you forward in faith.

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Notes:

–NEW PODCAST: The vitality of Bible Study—a talk with Douglas Rollwage. Douglas has over 33 years of experience as a trusted Bible teacher. In this podcast interview we cover a lot of ground, touching on the vitality of Bible Study, the transformative effect of pilgrimage, common pushbacks, and how knowing God deepens your relationship with him. Click here to listen, or look for ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ wherever you subscribe to podcasts: iTunes (Apple), Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or TuneIn.

–*William Temple, Nature, Man and God (London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1964), 452.