Never Take Hope for Granted

Never Take Hope For Granted



Psalm 31:24 “Be strong and take heart, all who hope in the Lord.”



Pastor’s blog; Kevin Jesmer 2-2-09



One of the verses of the Canadian national anthem has the following words nestled within it…“Thou land of hope for all who toil! Thou True North strong and free!” The USA is also a land of hope for all who toil. I amazed about how much hope we have in our nations. It has come to light when I think about how little hope people have in other nations. In 2007 I went to Kenya and attended a Bible conference in Nairobi. There were 350 people from 11 English speaking African countries. I heard life testimonies from several students. They shared about their struggles in life and how Jesus Christ was their Savior. I was amazed about the hopeless situations some of them were in. Several shared about parents and siblings who died of disease. They talked of war and poverty. They were without hope. But when they came to saving faith in Jesus, their hearts were full of hope and with that, joy.



In Canada and the USA most of us live in hope. Even when apart from Christ, I lived my life confident that I would live to 90, go to university, own a house, get married, out live my parents and not outlive my children. I would be able to enjoy things like traveling and visiting friends and relatives freely, all my life. I even had hope that my future kids would all have these hopes fulfilled in their lives. Even when I was not a Christian, I even had some hope that I was going to go to somewhere nice and pleasing after I died. (Though I was not quite sure where.) Since coming to Jesus I still have all these hopes and more. My hopes are more clearly defined. I have hope that I will bear meaningful fruit with my life. I have hope that I can leave a mark on this generation. I have hope that I will be going to heaven to be with Jesus. I have hope for my nation to a “Kingdom of Priests and Holy Nation” a Christian “light” to the world. My hopes are the same for my kids.



How can my life in America be so filled with hope and those of other nations be filled with so much despair? I thank God for the wisdom of our Founding Fathers who laid the foundation from which our society has grown. Much of their wisdom was born out of the Bible and Christian faith. I thank God, that the USA and Canada are the lands of hope for all who toil. We must never take it for granted, but enjoy it, gain strength from it and be thankful to the God who made it all possible. Let’s perpetuate it for future generations, by living for God’s glory and sharing God’s hope with others.