READ: Hebrews 6
THINK: Reread verses 13-19 from The Message aloud, slowly, noting the emphasis on hope.
When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, “I promise that I’ll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!” Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they’ll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God.
Consider the role that hope has played in your life. Its opposites are despair, suspicion, doubt, and cynicism. What does this passage tell you about hope?
Read the passage out loud once more. What are the words or phrases that stand out to you? What jumps off the page, and why do you think those particular themes are important to you today? What is God telling you that you need to hear?
PRAY: Pick out a few phrases from the passage that you would like to pray and talk to God about, such as:
– “make good on the promise”
– “his word cannot change”
– “grab the promised hope”
– “never let go”
LIVE: Walk through this day and this week trying on an attitude of greater hope – expectancy, anticipation, and trust. In the face of everything going on in your world, determine to have bold hope. This kind of hope is what everyday life in the kingdom of God looks like!
– Adapted from Eugene Peterson in Solo
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