Ecclesiates 9:4 May 21, 2013

Carol Wood
Ecclesiastes 9:4

"But whoever is joined with all living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion."

Sadly, it is often when we come face to face with extreme difficulty in our lives, the death or illness of a loved one, a car accident, or a personal or community catastrophe, that we realize the great and wonderful gift of life itself. We often take for granted our own living selves and the wonder of new life, of promise, of hope. For those of us who are Christians, we are also, by God's grace, gifted with an enduring faith.

These blessings should combine to bolster our sense of hope, though so often it seems that in the face of adversity, our hope wanes. Let us, during this time of Lent, remember the great gift of life God has granted us, and the abiding love of God for us, and the companion gift we have as believers, holding on to hope for our own lives and for our world. May we be encouraged, encourage one another, and be agents of hope in God's wondrous world.

Prayer; In thankfulness for our lives and our faith, dear God, help us to be a people of hope, and empower us as ambassadors of that hope in our homes, our communities, our places of work, and our world. Amen.