Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10.19-23
Today, the second thing that the writer to the Hebrews identifies as something which, that which Jesus has done, should motivate us to do – namely to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess with the addition of another reason for so doing!
We have a hope that is steadfast and certain
Gone through the curtain and touching the throne
We have a Priest who is there interceding
Pouring His grace on our lives day by day
Hope is a very precious thing bound up as it is with faith and our hope is rooted in the one who is faithful even though at times we can only see through a glass darkly what he is doing.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11.1
The Christian’s hope is solidly based on what Jesus has done. Hear his words to his disciples in John 14.2-3. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
The Christian’s hope is in Jesus now and for the future. In a broken and messy world it would be easy to give up. I wonder if that temptation has niggled at you during the Covid pandemic. I have no doubt that it will have been so for many and we are not fully out of the woods yet. So if you are a Christian reading this today you have something very special and indeed essential, to give to the world – hope! Not that you yourself can give it but if you hold unswervingly to the hope you possess God will use you to the blessing of many who are looking for meaning in these uniquely unsettling and confusing times.
Paul writing to the church in Corinth says this. ‘If only for this life you have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 1 Corinthians 15.19
You see, the hope we have begins now and lasts for eternity. It is not yet fully realised but it will be if we hold unswervingly to it and in the meantime will enable us to face each day knowing that God is faithful.
Pause again today and remember what God has done for you in Christ, and you will surely be motivated to hold fast the hope you possess, and as you do confess it to others.