Day 37 - Thursday

Day 37

 

"But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet."  1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NIV)

Here is Paul writing to another church, the Christians at Thessalonica, and once again, he imagines salvation as a helmet.  But here he specifies the "hope of salvation."  The hope of our salvation is set in the belief that God has and is saving us. 

 

Hope is powerful.  Men and women can survive many things, but without hope to sustain them, the stamina to stand in the face of adversity quickly dwindles.  So what is this hope of salvation?  It is the hope found in knowing we have a Savior that is delivering us from sin, from death, from hell, from ourselves.  He saves us from the effects of a sinful world that wears against our mind by telling us there is no God and no future for the Christian.  It is our hope in this salvation that guards our minds in Christ!

 

The word "hope" comes from the Greek word elpis and is translated as "confident expectation."  This is a far more descriptive and accurate definition of the helmet that safeguards our minds.  When we place our hope in God and his promises for us, we find that our worries and fears about the future, and about our present situations as well, are replaced by the assurance that God is with us.  This creates the peace of God inside of us.

 

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

 

In Christ, we find that peace, because of his salvation is our portion in this life and will protect our hearts and minds.  No wonder that King David, the Psalmist, wrote that his hope was found in his Savior:

 

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."  Psalm 25:4-5 (NIV)

 

Prayer:  "Savior, thank you that you save me from my worries, my fears and my doubts.  Thank you that as I place my confident expectation in your care and love for me my mind and heart is set in peace.  In Christ's name, Amen."