A Land that Is Fairer Than Day
John 14:1-3 (NRSV) 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
Has there ever been such hope as that given to us through Christ Jesus? First we have the hope of salvation found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” Then we have the hope of the resurrection, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live,” John 11:25. And finally we have the hope found in John 14
Can anyone exist without hope? Merriam-Webster dictionary says that the definition of hope is to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true..
The use of the word “hope” has become so overused, and really, the meaning has been watered down to the point that “hoping” is not much more than wishing that something unlikely will occur.
Conversely, hope in the Bible is a confident expectation, not because of our efforts, but because of God’s promises. There is a solidity in godly hope, whereas the hope found in the world is nothing more than a wispy trail of smoke that dissipates into the atmosphere.
So, I ask again; can anyone exist without hope? I think not. May we today grab hold of the hope found in the scriptures and in a personal relationship with Christ Jesus.
I would like to share an old song of the church with you. My maternal grandparents, born in the 1880’s, sang this and other songs that pointed toward heaven.
In the Sweet By and By
There’s a land that is fairer than day
And by faith we shall see it afar
For the father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.
In the sweet by and by
We shall meet on that beautiful shore
In the sweet by and by
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.
There is a land that is fairer than day, and because of hope we can trust not only in that grand reunion on heaven’s shore, but in living daily a life that reflects Christ in all we say and do.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Seeking Holiness 