Look at Zech 9:12. I have been meditating on that verse and especially the part about being a prisoner of hope. Those two things just don’t seem to make sense together but if you are under our Lord Jesus Christ then you can get it. We are called to give up our rights. To give up our wants. To give up even our desires in favor of what Christ wants for us. By giving up so much we can see how we are defined as prisoners but because we know Jesus we still have our hope. Hope in Him.
If you have been around me very long you know how I answer the question “how are you?” I normally say “Better then I deserve”. I started that about 5 years ago when I heard Dave Ramsey say it on his radio show and it has certainly served me well in the area of starting a conversation. It goes a little like this:
How are you?
Better than I deserve!!
What do you mean, you deserve a lot?
Well, I don’t want what I deserve, I like grace and mercy better.
You see, it started a conversation about salvation and I love it for that but now Dave Ramsey is in our Atlanta market and the conversation is different now. They assume I am a Dave Ramsey listener and while I am and that is a good thing I don’t want that to be the conversation most of the time.
I am asking God to give me something else to start that conversation with and I think this might be it. When someone asks “how are you?” I can say “I am a prisoner of hope” and see where that goes. My goal is to startle people a bit. To get them to stop and pay attention for a brief minute and to have a chance to ask questions if they want. I want to share about the relationship I have with Christ. Not to sound preachy or judgmental but to be salt and light as our Lord asked us to be.
We’ll see what God does with this but for now, I am a prisoner of hope and loving every minute of it.
It’s a good life!!
Jerry Robertson