BE HOPEFUL

November 10

Bible Reading: 1 Peter 3

1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

A man named John attended our weekly Men’s Bible study.  We’d begin our study by singing a hymn, and I often asked if the men had one that they’d like for us to sing.  Inevitably, John would ask for a hymn about heaven.  I later learned that John had been orphaned as a child, and had lived a difficult life, but you’d never know that from the smile he bore or the countenance of his face.  He was always talking about Jesus and heaven.  John was an older fellow, and his health wasn’t so great, so we were not too surprised when his time of departure came.  I attended his funeral service.  He had no family there.  And he left behind few belongings.  But at his funeral I heard story after story about how he’d talked to others about Jesus, and the impact he had on their lives.  He was a heaven-bound saint and wanted others to share in his hope. 

The context of verse 15 has to do with the suffering any of us might encounter because of being a Christian.  We are told not to fear or be troubled, but instead to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts, trusting Him and submitting ourselves to Him in our response.  Note this!  The verse presupposes that others might ask us regarding “the hope that is in (us)” (1 Peter 3:15).  Having been born again to a living hope, there’s to be a manifest difference in our hopeful countenance.  Is your walk with Christ such that others see the difference in you?  The days in which we live are filled with uncertainty, and it’s easy to be drawn into the hopelessness that is pervasive.  But you possess a living hope, and others need to see the reality of that in you.

Hope translates the Greek “elpis” which speaks to the confident expectation regarding some future thing.  Contrary to the common usage of its English counterpart it includes no element of doubt.  We are exhorted to “set (our) hope fully on the grace that will be brought to (us) at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).  We are to fully invest our hope in the sure promise of Christ’s return (i.e., “the blessed hope;” Titus 2:13).

We need to be ready to “make a defense to anyone who asks” about it.  Opportunities abound.  Are you ready to do that?  The only way you can be ready is if you are walking by the Spirit and according to the truth of the Word.  Not only can the Spirit embolden you to speak without fear, He can give you the words to speak.  The term translated “defense” is related to our word “apologetics,” which has to do with “reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something.”  Whereas books and Bible School courses are devoted to that theme, the matter is relatively simple.  What is your defense or argument as to the source of the hope you possess?  It starts with the gospel, that glorious message of hope.  Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).  Having put your trust in Jesus, you’ve been saved from your sins and given assurance of a future home in heaven.  No matter what happens to you here, you know that you are destined to heaven, and to that inheritance which is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4).  As someone once said, “When it comes to sharing your faith, it’s not a matter of how much you know, but Who you know, and how much you want others to know Him too!”

Our response to others, even in the face of threats and harsh treatment, needs to be “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).  According to the example of Christ, and the example of countless others who have likewise testified about Jesus in difficult circumstances (1 Peter 2:21-23; Acts 7:59-60).  The uncertainty of these days has worked to open a door of unprecedented opportunity for us.  “In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” we are to “shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:15).  You have hope.  Others need what you have.  The hope you possess in Jesus was meant to be shared! 

“Make us thy mountaineers, we would not linger on the lower slope, fill us afresh with hope, O God of hope.” – Amy Carmichael

Share His love by telling what the Lord has done for you
Share His love by sharing of your faith
and show the world that Jesus Christ is real to you
every moment, every day!