By MARION J. MILLER
Scripture: Hebrews 6:17-20
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever.
To say that we are living in changing times is an absolute understatement. It appears everything is changing almost every day! Look at the powerful information age, brought on by computers and the Internet. Those innovations are simply remarkable. They have played a significant role in millions of lives, especially during the pandemic era.
We now live in an era where we expect everything to operate with speed; it must be done instantly, if not sooner. We are all in a hurry; things must get done right now. No time to think, no time to meditate on the God who created us, and no time for others. We have things to do, places to go, and no time to waste!
But just like nature, we experience wind, rain, thunder and storms. Sometimes the aftermath of a storm is more devastating than the storm itself. Some of us are in the midst of a storm, we are coming out of a storm, or we are headed to a storm. And we need an anchor to hold onto – or the firm and solid foundation of what is known as “hope.” What is “hope?” It is as simple as the air we breathe. And a Christian hope is based on our acceptance of God’s Word. This kind of hope is based on God’s promises, which serves as “an anchor of hope.”
Our Hebrew scripture refers to this anchor. It is the only time in the Bible where the anchor is used as an illustration of what we need in the way of help in life. When we usually picture an anchor, it’s this really heavy object that’s tied to a ship to keep it secure to the bottom of the sea. The anchor spoken of here is the hope we are given by God. It is a hope or “anchor for our soul.”
If we don’t keep our anchor down and stay full of hope, then little by little we will start drifting, getting negative and discouraged. “I don’t think I’ll ever get out of debt.” “I’ll never meet the right person.” “I’ll never get well. It’s been so long.” Pretty soon we feel overwhelmed and down and we drift into a dark place. The problem is that you don’t have your anchor of hope down when you experience such hardships.
When a hardship is upon us, bank on that hope that is found in Jesus Christ. Trust in it. Feel secure in it. Be satisfied with it. Long for it — the way you long for the coming of the dawn — after a long, dark, scary night. He is our hope, the Son of God who became man, who died in our place for our sins, was buried, and was raised for our justification, who went up to the heavens and is now seated on the right hand of God the Father. Yes, God really is “an anchor of hope!”
Rev. Marion J. Miller is the Senior Pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church, 1201 Thomas V. Bryant Drive, Jeffersonville, Indiana. She may also be contacted at 812-283-3747 or via email at wesley1201@sbcglobal.net. For more news courtesy of the Indianapolis Recorder, visit our homepage.
