Finding Hope

Why did Jesus choose so many of His disciples from the profession of fishermen?  Interesting question isn’t it.  Maybe, just maybe fishermen have a special attribute about their personality that makes them good disciples.

One thing for sure, to enjoy fishing, you need to be a hopeful person.  You bait your hook or pick your lure and cast it forward, not knowing if there are fish near by.  You wait patiently and wait and wait.  Most fishermen would agree that there is more time hoping to catch fish than catching them.  Even when you do catch something, you need to be concerned about its size, the season it is in.  Year after year, true fishermen purchase their tackle, buy their bait, wait and wait for a bite.  It is easy to see that most of the time spent fishing is spent hoping, not catching.

The Apostle Paul really summarizes this well in his letter to the Romans.  While he emphasizes that we need to be patient when things are not going well and always in prayer, he adds something that we are not all very good at.  Fishermen are always practicing their patience as they wait for a bite and they are always in constant prayer for that big one to bite, but the key seems that we are called to rejoice in our hope.

 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant ~Romans 12:12

Like so many concepts in our God’s Holy Word, sometimes it is worth thinking about exactly what does that mean?  To be hopeful is to  look forward with confidence or expectation,  to have confidence and trust.

Hope is a good thing.  It lifts the human spirit, renews the human heart and it is the foundation of a faithful relationship with our God.

Can faith exist without hope?  Not very well.  It is the hope of an eternal existence that has inspired mankind from the beginning days of our history.  However, it will be the hope given to us by  our Savior, who will deliver us.

Are you a hopeful person? Is your life half full or half empty? Do you wake up in the morning thankful for what you have?

Check List√

Make sure that others see you as a person of hope.

Be joyful in your faith—You have won the lotto of eternal life.

Never give up. There is always someone whose problems are greater than yours that could benefit from your love and caring.

Share a sunrise or a sunset with someone.

Like every fisherman knows, the big one is just under the boat. So don’t give up.

And like the Apostle Paul states, “be in constant prayer.” God would love to hear from you.

The Perfect Hope, A Lottery?

The first recorded lottery is from the Chinese Han Dynasty between 205 and 187 BC. The first known European lotteries were held during the Roman Empire. Used mainly as an amusement at dinner parties, each guest would receive a ticket, and every ticket holder would be assured of winning something.  Time would change the concept to a method of producing revenue.  In fact, your odds of winning today’s Powerball, a popular US lottery, are 1 in 292 million.

While the odds for this type of game of chance are very poor, you have to admit that for a single dollar, you can get a whole lot of hope.  It must be so because millions of people give their dollars, even though the odds of winning are terrible.

The question to ask, however, is why would so many people ignore God’s calling and His offer of hope, eternal hope?  Much better odds and it is free for the taking.  All you need to do is to acknowledge your need for repentance, place your hope in Christ and you win the big one, eternal life.

Your tip, therefore, is to always remember that only Christ offers perfect hope.