In Jesus Alone We Have Hope
Tuesday’s Verse:
From Hebrews 10;23 NIV
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
Monday was one of those days. There was way too much shoveling, and all of us have achy arms, legs, and backs this Tuesday. The writer of Hebrews knows exactly where you are and speaks straight to that weary place: “let us hold unswervingly” (10:23). He assumes that there is pressure. Those things are not going to go easily. That you have plenty of reasons to let go.
Hope is not the cozy glow we happen to feel after a good day. True hope is clinging to Christ when the day has demanded more of you than you thought you had to give.
Observe that the sentence doesn’t begin with “Let us hold because we are strong enough to,” but “For he who promised is faithful.” Our hope doesn’t stand or fall on the strength of our grip; it stands or falls with the faithfulness of our Savior. The mounting snowdrifts. The growing stack of undone tasks. The litany of worries flooding your brain—none of these has the final word. Jesus does, through his death and resurrection, and his word is a promise.
“For hope we profess.” Hope is not primarily an inward feeling we experience on spiritual Tuesdays. “Hope we profess” points to the public, communal nature of Christian hope. It is the hope that you speak whenever you pick up your Bible and read about Him who loves you. Today, you may experience that hope weakly compared to the way you voice it to others—but it is still the hope of Christ for you.
The object of your hope is, plainly, “he who promised.” God has promised Himself to you in baptism. He has bound Himself to your death and resurrection, your forgiveness, life, and salvation. God’s faithfulness does not rise and fall with your energy levels, your mood, or even the strength by which you feel your faith.
Jesus Christ held unswervingly to his hope that the Father’s will would be done when that hope took him into the garden of Gethsemane and onto the hill of Golgotha. He did not let go of you or of the Father’s will, even when it meant shouldering the sin and death of the world. Jesus did not relent in his mission to bring you life, even when it cost him his life. Because he was faithful to death and resurrected on the third day, you now live inside that faithfulness.
So when Hebrews exhorts you to “hold fast,” it is not asking you to conjure courage in moments of cowardice. It is inviting you to hang on to the One who hangs fast to you. Your ability to hold on is weak— you are a creature. His ability to hold on does not tremble. He nailed his hands to the cross for you.
✝️ A Prayer for Today:
Loving Father, thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, who paid my sin debt and through whom I have forgiveness and eternal life. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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