Salutation of Hope
I love receiving personal letters even if people don’t know exactly how to write well. Today we use email for a lot of correspondence. A personal letter, especially hand-written, communicates great value from the person because it took some valuable time for them to write it. Sometimes the greeting of the letter sets the tone of the entire letter. It can be positive or negative. Paul gives a great salutation to Titus the recipient of this letter of instruction and encouragement. The salutation encouraged me. Check this out….
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve God. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ. God sent me to help his chosen people believe in Christ. I have been sent to help them understand the truth that leads to godly living. 2 Faith and understanding rest on the hope of eternal life. Before time began, God promised to give that life. And he does not lie. 3 At just the right time he made his word plain. He did it through the preaching that he trusted me with. God our Savior has commanded all those things. 4 Titus, I am sending you this letter. You are my true son in the faith we share. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace. (Titus 1:1-4 NIV)
I love the picture that FAITH & UNDERSTANDING are built upon a foundation of HOPE. Paul is anchored to the foundation of HOPE. He believed in the promise of God that eternal life was waiting after this life.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to hear from a family who had an 18 year old son pass away in his sleep due to an enlarged heart. He appeared healthy and robust in every way, yet passed away in his sleep. As they spoke and described the hope they have in eternal life, I was deeply inspired. The hope I have in eternity is a huge part of the foundation of my faith. I want to continue to build on that foundation my personal faith and my understanding of God’s Word. I want keep on pursuing the heart of God in the midst of ANYTHING that can happen to me in this world. I want my love for Him to grow deeper and stronger each day as I pursue Him resting on that Foundation of HOPE.
Pressing On! Dwayne