From Parade magazine comes the story of self-made millionaire Eugene Land, who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth graders. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could get these predominantly black and Puerto Rican children even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. “Stay in school,” he admonished, “and I’ll help pay the college tuition for every one of you.” At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.” Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.
The Lord knows the power of hope, and when hope is revived in the heart and soul of an individual they begin to live with purpose and direction in their lives. 1 Timothy 4:10 “For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”
Dear church we believers have what is described in the Word of God a “living hope.” A hope that will not disappoint reserved in heaven for you. This life has a tendency to want to take our hope away and demand we live by sight and not by faith. But the Word tells us to “Fix our hope on the living God” who is able to do what He has promised in your life. I am no self-made millionaire, but I do have the hope of Christ and I call you church to stay in the word of God and know that your labor is not in vain, and the Lord will keep His promise to love you and keep you from falling and to present you in the presence of His glory blameless and with great glory! Pastor Mark