Has the hope of the truth changed you? Has the gospel message grown in you? Are you bearing fruit because of the hope you have in Jesus? Are you growing in your faith as you gain a better understanding of the gospel message? Do you grasp the significance of God’s grace?
We may want to know the truth. Yet, we often joke that we aren’t sure we want to know it. We may even quote the line from the movie A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth!” The truth can be enlightening, scary, hard to hear, and inspiring all at the same time.
The truth of the gospel should give us hope. After all, the simple message is that Jesus died for us, rose on the third day, we are forgiven of our sins, and promised that we will spend eternity with God. This simple message tells us of God’s grace. It tells us that he loves us enough to send his Son to pay the debt we cannot pay. It shows us God’s grace in a tangible way.
The hope we gain from the truth is to bear fruit through us. How? Our hope should bring us so much joy that we cannot help but tell others. If we are not bearing fruit, perhaps we do not fully comprehend God’s grace or have had our hope for so long that the excitement has worn off. We might need to return to the message of God’s grace in the gospel message and renew our excitement and amazement. Maybe we need to reevaluate where we would be without the truth of the gospel and the hope we have.
I pray we all renew our hope in the truth of the gospel message. I pray we truly comprehend the grace of God. I pray each one of us bear fruit because of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Renew your hope. Regain your excitement. Understand God’s grace. Bear fruit in hope.
Colossians 1:5b-6 You have heard of this hope before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.
Marty Pressey 