Tangible Hope

[Chad]

David Jeremiah

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.
Hebrews 6:19

Recommended Reading
Psalm 62:5-8

Medical researchers often make use of a placebo—a "sugar pill"—when doing controlled studies of the impact of medicines. Subjects who receive the placebo sometimes exhibit a "mind over matter" improvement; the very thought that they are getting something tangible provides a boost to their response.

Critics of Christianity often accuse believers of using an intangible idea like hope as a placebo to give them a boost in difficult times. And they have a point: Hope is intangible; it occupies no physical space; it can't be proven by science. Almost anticipating those objections, the author of Hebrews compared intangible hope to a tangible object—a ship's anchor.

Hope, the writer says, is "both sure and steadfast," exactly as we think of a heavy anchor that keeps a ship from drifting. Hope may be intangible but its effects are not. Even when the winds blow in the present, keeping hope fixed on Christ's presence keeps us firmly in place.

Hope, like faith, is only as good as its object. The Christian's hope is in an object, an anchor, named Jesus. If you find yourself drifting, make sure your connection to Him is strong.

True faith is ever connected with hope.
John Calvin

Read-thru-the-Bible
Ezekiel 33-35

 

[Coconut]

I thank you for this word Chad, perhaps you only tossed it upon the waters not really expecting any return, but it caught the attention of one in deep waters, namely myself... HOPE....what an Anchor

June Hunt has an interesting note on the use the anchor to symbolize hope...



For centuries, anchors have been a symbol of hope. This emblem was especially significant to the early persecuted church. Many etchings of anchors were discovered in the catacombs of Rome, where Christians held their meetings in hiding. Threatened with death because of their faith, these committed Christians used the anchor as a disguised cross and as a marker to guide the way to their secret meetings. Located beneath the ancient city, 600 miles of these tomb-like burial chambers served as a place of refuge during perilous times of persecution. Thus, the anchor—found even on some tombstones today—has become the symbol of guaranteed hope for the eternal security of true Christians. (Biblical Counseling Keys on Hope: The Anchor of Your Soul)

I think that Hebrews 6 is one of the most amazing letters in the whole Bible, because it sums up what GOD has to say about this little Anchor called Hope...(get closer and take hold of it, and you find its not so little - it is bigger than life even)

Heb 6:10 God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.
Heb 6:11 Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true.
Heb 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.
Heb 6:13 When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow.
Heb 6:14 He said, "I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants."
Heb 6:15 Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised.
Heb 6:16 When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments.
Heb 6:17 To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise.
Heb 6:18 There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us.
Heb 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure...

I like that story about the boy and his father who were planning a fishing trip for the next day. That evening as the father was putting his son to bed, the boy hugged his father's neck and said, "Daddy, thank you for tomorrow."


I look up -- into the face of Jesus
For there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled...

Abba, Daddy, thank You for tomorrow!