A good pillow.
Ah, now we’re talking comfort. Just to lie in bed with our head cradled in a cushion of comfort.
Or maybe that new pair of slacks, you know, the pair with the Comfort Stretch waist. It expands with us when we need it to, never tight, never binding.
Shoes, too, easy on our toes … a good book … a remote-controlled ceiling fan … hot chocolate on a cool day.
Comfort comes in all sorts. Let’s look at 2 Comforts from the Book of Romans.
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” – Romans 8:24-25 (ESV)
Comfort No. 1: In this hope we were saved.
Salvation is the first step of something far greater. If you want a new, comfortable pillow for your bed, just going to the store and choosing one isn’t enough. Not even paying for it will bring you the comfort you desire. You must carry it home, place it on your bed, and plump it up each morning. Only then do you enjoy your new pillow.
If all we do is get “saved,” and then we step away from going deeper with Jesus, we have no hope in him at all. All we’ve done is “pillow shopped” and never carried it to comfort us when we needed it.
Comfort No. 2: We wait for it with patience.
There’s more to our comfort experience than just laying our head on that new pillow. We must make the bed, don our nightclothes, even smooth the pillowcase before claiming our rest. All that takes time, effort, and determination. Each day. Yet, it’s worth it because we anticipate the experience ahead.
That’s why we unrumple our bed each day, plump the pillow, and turn down the bedding just before climbing in. We anticipate the experience, the “hope” of comfort and rest.
Now apply these two illustrations to your salvation in Jesus.
1. See your salvation as the first step in a plan to focus on what’s next. God has a future in his plans for you, and it’s going to be wonderful, indeed.
2. It’s going to take time for that plan to mature. We must grow into what God has for us, to become the men and women who can receive the gifts and blessings he wishes to shower on us.
Our hope in the Lord is not a one-stop-done-that salvation. Comfort 1 and Comfort 2 are part of our walk with Christ.
Let’s take our future by the hand, snuggle in close, and find our hope in our renewed relationship with our Lord.
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