CHRISTIAN COMMENT: The Hope that Never Dies

And not a moment too soon either.

With all the bad news that keeps rolling in like a fog, this is essential therapy.

It’s also a time when the most unlikely among us suddenly become experts at the game.

The ones that really get up my nostrils though, are those commentators who, in the middle of a game, start reminiscing and comparing the game to some era no one wants to hear about.

The temptation to do this is, however, irresistible.

I remember when I was young....

Umm...maybe not. That was almost 35 years ago.

Then, I looked like a footballer; today, more like a football.

Still, that’s life.

All of us, footballers included, grow up and move on.

It’s what makes life really exciting. There’s always more to look forward to.

Sometimes though, we meet people for whom life appears to have come to a complete standstill.

There’s nothing to look forward to. The joy and excitement has vanished.

There’s no sense of personal value or purpose. They simply exist.

Often this is because at some point in their life, they lost hope.Whatever or whoever they placed their hope in, vanished, leaving them feeling hopeless.

The fact is life presents us only with short lived or false hopes.

Neither people, nor things, last forever.

Situations are never permanent. There is no hope you can hitch your wagon to forever.

That’s not to say we’re all destined to eventually end up in a state of hopelessness. Far from it.

Listen to these words: “For I know the plans I have for you - plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

These words, recorded in the Christian Bible, were spoken by God our Maker. If you are willing to believe and receive them, they will be just as true for you as they were for the original hearers.

Call out, in faith, to Jesus Christ, and he’ll help you start living in the plans, the hope, and the future that God has prepared for you. With God there is never a hopeless situation.

Philip Athyal lives in Worthing and attends Goring New Life Baptist Church