I’ve been using Romans Ch. 5 as a study guide, looking into my personal character, beliefs, and manliness.
Focusing on Verses 1 thru 5.
And drilling down on the specific verses, starting with the end of verse 2, 3 and 4.
“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.” ~ Romans 2-4
That last word “hope” has eluded me, oh so many years.
Our modern day understanding of hope is pretty wishy washy. For example, “I hope it doesn’t rain.” When the clouds are roiling in, heavy laden, just pregnant with rain, with a few sprinkles hitting the kitchen window you’re currently looking out of.
Yeah, it’s gonna rain.
It may miss you… but it’s gonna rain.
But the Hebrew and Greek, that was originally used when the bible was put together, has a definition for hope that means “with certainty.”
See Strong’s Greek online concordance…
1680 elpís (from elpō, “to anticipate, welcome”) – properly, expectation of what is sure (certain); hope.
And in Romans, chapter 5, v. 4 it tells us what produces what in us… “and character… hope.”
If character is the tree, and hope is the ‘produce,’ then like a shiny apple, we should be able to see in ourselves a change in our outlook, concerning the word hope.
Hope, an “expectation of what is sure,” understanding the promises of God, then has to be, for me, as stout as a good piece of rope.
When I thought that through, and came to my little rope analogy, I had three stories from the bible come to mind.
From…
Joshua 2:15, the spies he sent to scope out Jericho, are let down, out a window, by a cord, to safety.
1 Samuel 19:12, future king David, is let down, out a window, by a cord, to safety.
Acts 9:25, the apostle Paul, is let down, out a window, by a cord, to safety.
If someone would say to you, “This way! Out the window!”
And you get there, look out, and see you are more than a few stories up… like me, you might say to them, “What! Are you nuts!”
But then they say, “Look! I got this basket, and this rope. I’ll help you down, so you can get away.”
Now… just so you know… I have some real life experience with having to dive out a window, or two… and can tell you… two stories up is real doable, three stories up… you have to know how to slow yourself down using the building and when you hit the ground… as soon as your toes touch… you better know how to tuck and roll!
Don’t ask me how I know that, I just do.
And the friends I was with… went first! And said, “Just jump!”
A good, stout rope, would have been nice right about then.
There is a lot that can go wrong, when jumping out a 3rd story window, but nothing for certain, you’re “hoping” it goes alright, BECAUSE it COULD go horribly wrong… and the higher up you go… with no rope, ladder, or parachute, the more likely… that something bad WILL happen.
And it’s not the choice “to jump” that gets you, it’s the consequence of that choice, right? It’s the “sudden stop” at the bottom, that causes all the problems.
How do you view consequences, of say…
The consequence of not knowing Gods promises?
The consequence of never trusting something?
I understand the “principle” of a stout piece of rope. I trust that principle. I have a few different pieces, lengths, and strengths, of rope, in my daily life arsenal… because I help folks move furniture; I haul brush to the city compost pile; I hang deer up(when I get one); I used to tie myself off to my truck with a good piece of rope when working on a roof to remove bats; I have learned to trust not only the “principle” of a piece of rope, but have come to trust specific individual pieces that I have in my possession, that I use everyday.
That leads me to ask myself, “Do you possess Gods promises?” “Do you possess a trust in His principles?” “Do you employ them daily, as you do your little pieces of rope?” “Have you ‘taken a hold’ of Gods word?”
Do you have a hope, a for sure certainty, that what God has said is the truth?
I don’t know.
But… what I do know is, that I look to Jesus, I follow Him, and what he’s written, and following Him… I have yet to find myself in a whorehouse; or dodging a demon possessed father-in-law, hurling spears at me; or being chased out of town by an angry mob of priests, because I’m preaching the truth.
And so, there is no need… to be diving out any windows.
I’ll be working on living out what I do know, about Gods word, getting to know Him better, and so if the day comes, and He says, “Out the window! I got you!”
I won’t answer, “What! Are you nuts!”
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