Have You Lost Your Hope?
1 John 3:3
“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
When I was a boy, there were times that my parents would leave to go somewhere and would give me a list of things to do before they returned. I remember how I would ask them what time they were going to get back for the purpose of knowing when to have these chores done. Every time I would ask when they would return, they always replied that if I would immediately start doing my chores that I would have plenty of time to get my chores done. My purpose of wanting to know the time they returned was so I could play for awhile, and then quickly get the chores done before their return. The knowledge of their return motivated me to get my chores done.
One of the common messages preached years ago was the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This type of message was always very convicting as a Christian because a Christian would never want to meet Jesus Christ doing some of the sins they were routinely committing. The hope of the Second Coming always causes a person to clean up their life.
The verse above says that those who still have the hope of Jesus' return will purify themselves. My fear today is that many Christians have lost this hope. Whether this hope is lost because preachers don't preach on this subject anymore, or that Christians have become so wrapped up in worldly lifestyles that they have forgotten this hope, I don't know. One thing I am sure of, if we would not lose the hope of Jesus' return, we would live cleaner lives.
Have you lost the hope that Jesus is coming again? Christian, let me assure you that Jesus is coming again. No, we don't know when Jesus is going to return, we simply know that He promised He is coming again, and He will.
With the reminder of Jesus’ eminent return, are you ready to meet Him if He were to come today? Are you saved? Has their been a time in your life when you accepted Christ as your personal Saviour? I'm not asking what others have told you, I am asking you what you know. If you don't know 100% sure that you would go to Heaven if Jesus returned today, then you need to take care of this right now.
Christian, if Jesus were to return today, would you want Him to catch you doing the things you have done in the past month? Think about your actions and thoughts for the past month and ask yourself if you would want Jesus to catch you doing those things. If Jesus returned while you looked at the things you saw in the past month, would you be ashamed? What about the things you have or have not done, would you want Jesus to catch you doing or not doing those things? Clean up your life today realizing that Jesus could return today.
If you have lost the hope that would cause you to purify yourself, then you need to get that hope back for Jesus may come today. Live your life daily with the thought that Jesus could come today. With that thought in mind, only do what you would want Jesus to catch you doing, and you will find yourself cleaning your life up from those things that would embarrass you. The thought of Jesus’ return will cause you to clean up your life.
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