Live in Hope 

   “But Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15: 20) 

   Easter is the season of hope.  Hope in promises of the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is through His death and resurrection that we dare have hope of eternal life in the Father’s heavenly kingdom.

   Our priest often speaks of this world as the land of the dead.  Everyone who is now alive will, at some time, die.  But death, to me, is only a door, a door from the land of the dead to the land of the living.  After death in this world comes eternal life in the next.

   I live in hope for the life to come.  I look around and see the evil and problems we face in this life.  A society that seeks to eliminate God and pretend He doesn’t exist.  A government that supports such a heinous agenda, even as they invoke the name of God, claiming to be devout Christians.

   There seems to be little to hope for in the world today, so I choose to place my hope in the world to come when our Lord will come again in glory and make all things new.  A new heavens and a new earth, eternal happiness and joy, complete and unending love.  These are the hopes and promises of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. 

   It is in the promises of Christ and the Holy Spirit dwelling within me that my hope resides.  The Spirit will guide me and if I follow Him, the Spirit will lead me home.