Wishy Washy

Over $60 BILLION found its way into America’s lottery system in 2008. I’m not really a money girl, but I found this interesting:
A lottery ticket purchaser is…
5 times more likely to be eaten by a shark
6,000 times more likely to be hit by a car
And 500,000 times more likely to die in an airline crash than winning the lottery.
(http://www.saneok.org/files/Facts&Stats/LottoFacts.pdf)
In other words, investing your money in the lottery equates to flushing it down the toilet! An investment that has a 1 in 54 million chance of winning is a waste of time. Yet for some inconceivable reason, people place their hope in it and play anyway. They spend hard-earned money hoping they’ll be that lucky winner.
I could write an entire book on the pointlessness and detrimental consequences of gambling, but that’s for another time. What grasps my attention tonight is the thought process of those who gamble—specifically, the flimsy nature of the hope that drives them.
Worldly wishes and aspirations are wishy-washy. They possess zero foundation for the wisher to believe it will come true.
We use these terms flippantly: “I hope it doesn’t rain.” “We hope the concert won’t be sold out.” “I wish he would ask me out!” And on and on and on.
Hopes and wishes of the world have no sure footing to stand on. We would like for them to come true, and we may yearn for their fruition adamantly. But in the end, wishing and hoping cannot produce results. They have no hands and feet, only desires that occupy our minds and dreams.
Scripture’s definition of hope once again turns the world’s definition on its head.
Hope is only as meaningful as the object we place it in. For the world that means all hope will fall short at some point. Hope in winning the lottery means we place our faith in the lottery. Of course it’ll let us down! Putting hope in politicians leads us nowhere—they’re fallen people just like us (some more fallen than others)—and are bound to let us down.
In the Gospel, hope is much different than the world because it is based in Christ.
In Christ also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory…I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. 
Nowhere in this passage does Paul say we might have an inheritance or we may have a place in God’s plan. Quite the opposite! We have an inheritance, we have been predestined, He does work all things after the counsel of His will, we can know the hope of His calling—the true riches of His inheritance to us as saints!
No wishy-washiness here! In the Gospel hope is guaranteed because its object is Christ. In the Gospel, hope is not founded by what we do or what life may throw our way. It’s based on Who Christ is and what He’s already done for us.
When our hope lies in ourselves or things of this world, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. When our hope rests in Christ, He becomes is guarantor and He will not let us down.
Only when our hope extends outside ourselves in Jesus is it secure. Hope in Christ is steadfast, unmoving, strong, and a unwavering. It cannot be shaken, moved, destroyed, or taken away. Christ is our guarantor for true hope—hope that seals us with eternal life, not wishful fantasies.
What are you placing your hope in today? Something in this world that will fade away? Or in Christ where you’re investment is guaranteed a return of glory beyond your imagination?
Hope in Christ. Let Him be the object and focus of your life, dreams, and desires. It’s the one bet you’ll never lose. The one investment that won’t let you down.