Holding On

"And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who though faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself."

Hebrews 6:11-13

Sluggish is just not an attractive word. It brings to mind many not-so-beautiful mental pictures; anything from pale, slimy slugs to stopped up plumbing pipes and many nasty things in between. And it doesn't even look nice when you write it. It's just not a nice word. And one I would definitely not like to have used to describe my spiritual life. 

What would make a person sluggish? There are as many answers for that as there are people in this big, old world. We all have weak spots, vulnerabilities. We all have an affinity for certain temptations. We all have character deficiencies that we never bother to address because it will be painful. Any or all of those could cause us to be sluggish. They steal our energy for life. They make us doubtful. They make us sad and tired. 

{But perhaps the worst thing is that they steal our hope. }

Hope is one of the most potent forces in the human experience.  A lack of hope kills our creativity, kills our joy, kills our curiosity, kills our desire to live. Without hope, we wither and die. We die emotionally, spiritually  and sometimes physically. Hope is entwined with our very life force. 

Yet hope seems elusive, that thing that is always just beyond reach. One look at the world around us will show that. The gray masses drift from here to there, little caring one way or the other because they have no hope. No future. No reason to care. Nothing left to hope for.

Except for one thing: Jesus. And that's all the reason I need. 

"Because of Jesus, we have hope." How many times have we who have grown up in the Church heard that? Thousands of times? Millions?? Maybe. But pretend that you have never heard that statement before. 

"Because of Jesus, we have hope." 

Because of the God who became a baby... 

Because of that baby who became a carpenter...

Because of that carpenter who willingly became a sacrifice and  spilled out His lifeblood...

Because of that sacrifice who became a warrior and single-handedly charged the gates of Hell... 

Because of that warrior who became the champion of Life as proof of His triumph over Death...

Because of that champion who returned to Heaven as an eternally scarred prince...

Because of that prince who is using His carpenter hands to build a glorious dwelling place for His bride...

He is why we have hope. Not just for right now. Not just for Sunday mornings. For the rest of your life. For the rest of eternity. 

So be diligent in your seeking of the Source of hope. Pursue Him with all your might. Imitate in faith and perseverance those who have obtained the promises already, because they sought out hope. 

And when the motivation runs out, remember Who promised hope. Remember that He swore by Himself. So take heart. 

Grasp that promise and hold on for dear life.