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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 9, 2010
“Life So Full That Hope Is Not Necessary”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Boys left alone on an island.
That’s what we find in the classic novel “Lord of the Flies.”
They were stranded, far from home and family, with no real hope of being rescued, and yet they did not quickly slip into despair.
Why not?
Because they were too busy.
The author said that life was so full that “hope was not necessary and therefore forgotten.”
They were boys, turned loose on an island! There was much adventure and discovery.
Life was full, so hope was not necessary.
I love that observation, and I think it applies to our world today.
We can fill our lives with work and play and entertainment. We have access to more information than ever in the history of the world. There are more videos on Youtube than you can watch in a dozen lifetimes. Keeping up with the news is impossible because there is new news every minute. And thanks to Twitter, you can keep up-to-the-second with all your friends as well as your favorite celebrities.
With our cell phones and text messages and Facebook and iPods and iPads, with cable and satellite and internet and now DVD’s coming out of soda machines, our lives are literally overflowing.
I think many Americans are like the boys on the island. Their lives are so full that hope is not necessary and therefore forgotten.
But…I think that only lasts for a while. At some point a nagging suspicion seeps in and says, “There’s got to be more than this.”
Well the good news is, there is more than this!
One of the hallmarks of Christianity is hope.
First, there is hope in the resurrection of the dead, as Paul taught in Acts 23:6. In Romans 8:23 he said that our bodies would be redeemed someday.
Then there is the hope of eternal life, as it says in Titus 3:7.
First Thessalonians 4:13 says that, due to the resurrection of the dead and the hope of eternal life, we do not need to despair when a loved one dies. It says we do not have to “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”
And here is the hope, that one day all of us believers will be together forever, “and so shall we ever be with the Lord,” it says in verse 17.
When a person becomes a Christian, when Christ becomes his savior, he is born into a living hope. First Peter one says, “In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you…”
So not only do we have hope for the resurrection of the dead into life eternal, but we have hope for a heavenly inheritance.
Now listen to Romans 15:13. I think this is a good description of the hope available to Christians. It says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Not only do we have hope, but we can be overflowing with hope through the Holy Spirit inside of us.
Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
Colossians 1:27 offers this descriptive phrase, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
And get this! It’s not because we are so good or so holy. It’s because of the wonderful grace of God!
First Peter 1:13 instructs us to set our hope fully on the grace to be given us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
My study bible says this about hope. “It is the assurance of eternal life guaranteed by the present possession of the Holy Spirit.”
Yes, we live in a busy world; and busy people can live for a while without even thinking about hope.
It’s like the boys in “Lord of the Flies.” Life is so full that hope is not necessary.
But when there is a break in the busyness, then what?
Then there is good news! Through Christ we have hope: the hope of eternal life and the hope of a heavenly inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, through the grace of God.
And this hope overflows inside of us through the Holy Spirit, and becomes an anchor for our soul, firm and secure.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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