Sure and Steadfast Hope
The doctor left his little dog in the hall and entered the bedroom of his terminally ill friend. All he could do now was to offer some comfort to the gaunt figure whom he loved as a brother in Christ. As the men spoke quietly to each other, they became aware of sounds from outside the room, and they realised that the doctor’s faithful four-legged friend was scratching at the door, trying to join his master. As a faint smile flickered on the face of his companion, the physician took his hand and said, “You know, he’s never been in this room. He does not know what’s on the other side of that door. But he wants to come in because I’m here. That’s enough for him. He wants to be with me. Brother, you and I stand in front of an invisible door which opens into a new world. We have never visited that land, but we know this: Jesus is there, and He has promised that we will be with Him. That is enough. That is enough.” And the dying man said, “Amen.”
I’ve embellished this half-remembered (apocryphal?) story because it has been on my mind since my wife passed away a few weeks ago. Towards the end, in her lucid moments, she repeatedly spoke of wanting to join her first love. Being a bit slow on the uptake, my first thought was, “First love? Has she been married before?” Then sanity returned, and I realised that in her pain she was clinging to the promise: “I go to prepare a place for you…”
Hope is good. Misplaced hope is not good. Hope anchored in wealth, power, talent or philosophy will crumble to dust when that bell tolls for us. But the Bible speaks of another hope, a hope which is “both sure and steadfast and … which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us” (Heb 6:19, 20). Peter tells us that this sure and steadfast hope is grounded upon “the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Pet 1:3). And scripture is clear: this hope is nourished by faith, faith which flourishes when prayer, study and meditation saturate our daily lives. The bell will toll – today is the day to nurture our hope.
Rex
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