2 Corinthians 3:12–18
‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.’ (vv17–18)
Hope is our greatest imagined good, the source for our optimism. Pandemics, wars, and life’s many challenges quickly dampen such optimism. However, hope is something that can help keep us focussed on the good we visualise. It’s never a choice between hope or despair, although when tragedy strikes, despondency sweeps in like a flood and we must acknowledge it. If we are to grow in God we must learn to withstand the flood tide of despair, knowing that there is still a life that we will live, albeit we may have to overwrite our previous narrative to move on. This requires resilience, the discovery that we can continue to grow in the face of adversity.
When Scripture speaks of the veil that covered Moses face, it refers to the Law, for until Jesus’ ministry no one could gaze on God and live (Exod. 33:20). We now enjoy access to God directly, and can learn through the Spirit how to live in each chapter of our lives. The hope we carry is not some self-induced idealised dream, but the fact that our lives are now hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3), whilst daily being transformed into Christlikeness as we abide in God (John 15:5). Once we know that our lives are secured through God’s grace and our future guaranteed, then we seize our freedom in life, for whatever is directed against us, whilst real and painful in experience, doesn’t ever have the power to remove us from God’s loving acceptance.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Exod. 34:29–35; Ps. 27:1–14; Eph. 1:3–14; Heb. 13:1–16.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: What challenges the hope you carry in your heart? Do you enjoy freedom in your life? If not, what are the reasons?
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, You created me for freedom. Help me to refuse the yoke of slavery and write a God-centered narrative for my life. Amen.’
Photo by geralt from Pixabay
