I love looking forward to things. Christmas, ski trips, summer holidays, film releases. I often find that I live life looking forward to one high after another to get me through the lows. The Bible has a word for this: hope.
Hope is the eager expectation of some sort of positive good. There are many things on earth that we can put our hope in, but ultimately all of them will fail us. Weekends and holidays never last long. Relationships disappoint. Aging ensures our health will ultimately decline. And then we will die…
I couldn’t wait for my recent Bulgarian skiing jaunt. I was literally counting down the days. And it was, as my friend James would say: “Amazing”. But it wasn’t as utopian as I’d hoped. And now it’s over. The snow has melted along with my dreams of unending sunlit snowy bliss.
Even at Disneyland a few years ago (the nearest thing on earth to paradise), the kids were annoying, the queues were long, my feet hurt, and upon closer inspection the turkey legs were much less appealing than I’d first imagined.
What I need is: an eternal hope. Something that will never fail, disappoint or come to an end. That reminds me of a Bible verse:
Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear. 1 Peter 1:3-4 (CEV)
Aha! Just want I need: “a hope that lives on”. Unlike last weekend, this hope will last forever. And ironically, this hope starts when all other hopes run out. That is when we, like the corned beef in my fridge, expire.
The apostle Paul really had a handle on this. He said “for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” and “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Phil 1:21-24).
He was actually looking forward to dying! Why? Because for followers of Jesus that will mean being “with Christ” in heaven. No pain, no suffering, perfect peace, face to face with our eternal Creator and Saviour, our friend and our king. Awestruck, overwhelmed, ecstatic, dancing, singing, falling face down, joy beyond description, intimate friendship, forever. And then of course there’s the resurrection of the righteous and a new heavens and a new earth. Now that’s something to look forward to!
I’ve walked through some lows in recent years, but despite them, or perhaps because of them, my hope in joyful pain-free life after death with the resurrected Jesus has really grown. And until my time comes, I want to do all I can to serve him and help others in this often dark world.