For many, COVID has been a knockout punch for hope. Such a small virus which leaked into all the world has resulted in millions dying. Hope’s vulnerability is exposed by human crisis, but so is its strength.
A familiar old hymn of the church begins with the words, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Hope isn’t built just from anyone or anything — not even a vaccine. There will always be a new threat. Colossians 1:27 insists that it is “Christ in you” that is our hope. Not medicine, not politics, not economics.
Any attempt to build one’s life apart from the life of Jesus results in a “free fall” life. The life lived in “free fall” recklessly pursues the goals of self-gratification and self-glorification. It is a lifestyle highly extolled and praised in the world value system.
It is sad for me to say that even in a religious culture, you will find a lifestyle that races towards self-gratification and self-glorification. That’s why you can find “religious approval” for any kind of lifestyle a human culture desires to pursue. Since the entrance of sin into the world, that has been true. You can find some earthly system of belief that will approve anything. But will it give real hope? No.
I’ve been told about the disappointments that some have had with God and with the church. Some of the disappointments affecting hope have been God’s answers to prayer. The answers to prayer that I have noted from my life have been “Yes,” “No” and “Wait.”
The Bible insists that God’s ways are higher than our ways. The Bible counsels that we should wait upon the Lord. But “wait” is a four-letter word in a hopeless culture. “Now” is the popular word.
For me, the most thought-provoking book in the Bible to study regarding hope is the book of Hebrews. The angle of approach toward hope in Hebrews 7 is that from the entrance of Jesus into the world; there is a “better hope” with which “we draw near to God.” Jesus is not threatened by COVID or any other monster. The ultimate answers of God are seen in eternal life.
So, what is the most foolish choice anyone can make in their earthly life? My answer would be to lay the wrong foundation for your hope. The credibility of Jesus for your life’s foundation is a sure and real foundation. One of Jesus’ most well-known parables is about the man who built his house on the sand and the man who built his house on rock.
Job is a good example of a life that was faith-filled. He said regarding the character of God, “Even though he slay me, yet will I trust him.”
In the words of the old hymn, “My hope is built on nothing less.”
David Woods is a teaching pastor at Park Chapel Christian Church in Greenfield. This weekly column is written by local clergy members.
