Jeremiah 46-47 Hebrews 6

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong. It enters behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place in heaven, where Jesus has gone ahead of us and for us. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20 NCV)

Hope is a divine power give to man by God and the author of Hebrews draws on that human capacity to hope as they develop their argument. There are some disturbing verses in chapter 6 that appear to give the impression that we can lose our relationship with God forever, should we go astray (vss 4-6). I’m not sure how to read those verses in the light of other verses in the Bible but let me just say that I’m going to stay true to the hope that God has given me. The author notes that our hope anchors our soul and enters into the presence of God with Jesus, our eternal high priest.

We all need some form of hope. The problem for so many in our world is their hope is found in earthly things and not the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ. Some people had high hopes for the recent election. The results caused some to hope more and others to lose hope. If your hope is found in elections, your hope rises and falls on the whims of people’s reactions to the campaign ads and platforms of the candidates. Exhilaration and hope one year give way to despair and hopelessness a couple of years later. Those whose hope is found in their wealth discover that money can’t buy anything and the more material things they have, the greater their worry about losing them. My hope is in a God who has never let me down, even when I’ve let Him down. My hope is found in the presence of the Almighty God who supports me in every circumstance. Elections may go against my preferences. I don’t lose hope. I may lose all my material things. I don’t lose hope. My hope is in the Lord who will never leave me or forsake me.

Lord, You are my hope and my salvation. I place my trust in You because You’ve never failed in the past and I know that You will never fail in the future. I pray for those who have lost hope because they placed it in earthly things or events. Show them the hope of Jesus that will never be taken away.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.