Ponder the phrase, “a living hope”.  What does this look like?  Mary reflected a living hope when she answered the call to carry the Messiah with “I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be with me just as you have said.” (Luke 1: 38) Elizabeth showed a living hope when she responded to Zechariah’s encounter with the angel with “This is the Lord’s doing. He has shown his favor to me by removing my disgrace among other people.” (Luke 1:25) And, oh, the hope that abounded when Elizabeth and Mary met and the unborn John lept for joy in his mother’s womb! (Luke 1: 44-55) These women faced an uncertain future with joy and confidence because they had hope in God’s promise of salvation. They knew the stories of their faith, and they trusted that the Lord would continue to deliver, as he had always delivered in the past. They did not fear, but accepted the shake-up God had brought to their lives and stepped forward into the unknown with assurance. God would save.

Do you reflect a “living hope” in your life?  Do you live as one who has an “inheritance that cannot perish”?

Today, give thanks to God for the gift of salvation.  Then, ask God to show you one thing you can do today to share with someone the “living hope” we have in Christ Jesus.

Blessings and Peace

Sara