January 29, 2023 . . .
What do you hope for? What is your greatest desire? When I was growing up, beginning in May, nearly every Saturday, my brother and I (later on, my little sister as well) went to Kentucky Lake with my grandparents, so we could go fishing. More than anything else, I hoped the fish would bite. Sometimes they would, sometimes they wouldn’t. As it turned out, whether the fish bit or not, we had a good time just being together. If you see my brother, ask him about the “shortcut” my grandfather took from Erin to Waverly. Then, every summer when school let out, the same crew that went fishing went to the Smoky Mountains for a week. My greatest hope was to see a bear while we were in the mountains. Sometimes the bears cooperated and sometimes they didn’t, but as turned out, whether we saw a bear or not, we had a good time just being together. If you see my brother, ask him about the search for the Pea Pot on Bean Vine Road. As I look back on my nearly sixty trips around the sun, I have “hoped for” a lot of things. Many times, the things I hoped for came true. Sometimes, the things I hoped for didn’t come true and occasionally, when the things I hoped for came true, I wished they hadn’t! But by and large, fulfilled hopes or not, I have enjoyed most of my fifty something years. What got me pondering about past hopes was a scripture I read this morning. I Peter 1:3 says, “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.” There is a lot of theology in this verse, but basically it boils down to this. If you are a Christ follower, you not only have hope, you have a LIVING hope. That living hope is found in a person, Jesus Christ, and our living hope is a hope that WILL come true, you can put that in the bank! One day, we will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead will make sure you complete your journey home and if we will let ourselves hold His hand, Jesus will ensure our trip home will be full of joy, whether our other “hopes” come true or not.
Be blessed and be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
