Renowned poet, Emily Dickinson, once penned:

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”

I believe hope is something that every person wants to have.  Hope for a better day.  Hope for a better job, a better life.  Hope that our children turn out to be good people.  But what is the difference between a Christian definition of hope and the way the world uses it?

The word “hope” in everyday English vocabulary is usually different from the idea of certainty. Typically when people use the word hope they mean, “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I hope it happens.”

Then again, when you read the word “hope” in the Bible (like in 1 Peter 1:13—”set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”), hope is not wishful thinking. Continue reading →