Perspectives

“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 through faith and patience inherit the promises”

                                        (Heb 6:11-12)

Hope springs eternal.  It is a cliché, and like most clichés, there is a kernel of truth in it.  When the world uses that cliché, the reference is usually not to eternal things, but to temporal things for which one steadfastly hopes, no matter the obstacles that must be overcome.  It is normally used to describe someone whose outlook is consistently positive, who seldom gives up on that for which he hopes.

That is all well and good.  There is nothing wrong with having a positive outlook on life.  It is certainly more rewarding than going around all the time with a frown and a word of pessimism.  The world cries and complains every day because it has no eternal hope, because it carries in its collective heart the certainty of an end of temporal things.  It is a constant shadow in the mind, casting its subtle pallor over every temporal thing.  Man desires.  But the ends of his desires never satisfy.  If they did, he would get what he desired, and then not want anything else.  He would be satisfied.  But acquiring one’s desires only makes the coals of his yearnings glow more brightly.  What he gets, he no longer wants it.  To want is not to have, and to have is not to want.  Why would someone hope for that which he holds in his hand?  The thrill of acquisition is not in having the thing that is desired, but in the getting of it.

The eternal optimist only deceives himself if he is unsaved.  For it is not the thing that he seeks that prompts the acquisition, but it is the lack of contentment with what he already has.  He is continually hopeful that what he desires will make him happy.  “When such and such happens, then I will do this or that, and then I will be happy.” But when whatever it is happens, it is momentarily gratifying, and the heart then goes on to something else, because enough is never enough.  The world bustles about continuously in its quest for satisfaction or fulfillment, from birth to death, non-stop, refusing to seek contentment and happiness in the only place where they may be found.  Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.  Who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).  Tranquility and contentment do not flow from a fountain of urgent desire.  Where there is urgency, there is something of the flesh.  Where there is urgency, the need for patience is greatest.

Because of life-long associations with worldly ways and goals, even most Christians do the same thing.  We set our minds on earthly things, and our lusts and our pride drive our thoughts earthward and self-ward.  The new house, the new car, the new job —  all these and countless more — divert us and distract us, swallowing up our time and resources to feed our own pleasures and desires.  That old man overtakes the new, and the devil has done his job.

Hope springs eternal.  There is a kernel of truth indeed.  When a Christian learns to think beyond the grave, when his eternal estate comes into focus and gains reality in his mind, then alone can he shed his selfish desires and begin to serve the Lord with joy and  real hope.  The only fountain of hope is not on earth, but springs from eternity, flowing into time.  It is sublime.  It is encouraging.  It is joyful. It is real, and it is very near indeed, this realization of our hopes.  The strongest saint more often than not falls prey to his lusts and his desires, and his pride drives him into much folly.  Our faith is in Christ, and not in ourselves.  Our strength and our fruit come to us through the Vine.  Our hope is in Christ, whose revelation will be the realization of all that we truly and spiritually desire. 

Hope springs eternal because from eternity comes our hope.  No one says, “Hope springs temporal.”  The devil must laugh to so easily deceive us, so that we use an eternal truth as a cliché, but not realizing at all the vast significance of that truth.  Hope does spring eternal, because there is no other fountain from which it flows other than from the springhead of the River of Life.  Hope cannot spring temporally, because if it is temporal, then it is governed by time, and must come to an end.  That is no hope at all. 

Hope springs eternal because we were in Christ before the foundation of the world.  Let us then, with due diligence, show outwardly the full assurance of our hope, not lazy or sluggish, not unbelieving, but trusting that God will make us fruitful.  It is a godly request, and one that He is only too happy to answer. Let us mark those whose faith and patience spring from eternity, and let us imitate them in our lives until the sublimity of hope becomes an ordinary quality of our everyday lives.  Let us imitate Paul, even as he imitated Christ.  Let us keep the faith, let us make our hope real, and let us love one another, serving our Lord in these last days.  When our hope springs eternal, we serve ebulliently, and God blesses our faith with His fruit, and then He rewards us!  What a marvelous thing it is to be a child of God!