Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5

This weekend we spent some time with some old friends and somewhere within our conversation, the topic of hope came up.

We have hope for something much better than this life, don’t we? In the verses above, Peter described our living hope as an “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” inheritance – a promise we can anticipate, yet we face some challenges today and we may feel tested by fire.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:6-7

On Saturday night, our waitress described her ectopic pregnancy and how she lost another child by miscarriage in the last year or so. Later in the evening, I heard of some family challenges faced by some people we know. We have our own issues as well, but all of these temporary issues, pale in comparison to our eternal promise of hope.