Today's Scripture Reading (May 13, 2021): Hebrews 6
In his award-winning fantasy
series "His Dark Materials," Philip Pullman writes that "Hope
holds you fast like an anchor so you don't give way." The image of an
anchor was a standard illustration of hope in the ancient world. The seas of
the world were chaotic places and often attempted to bend the actions of the
ships that traveled over its waves to its will. The reality of the water is that
if everything is calm, you don't need the anchor. But when the seas are rough,
when the water's chaos is maximized, you need an anchor to stabilize the ship.
In a storm, an anchor was used so that the boat didn't get pushed backward,
giving up all of the ground that it had gained. An anchor isn't needed in
moments of peace, and hope comes from the journey itself as the boat slides
over the glassy seas. But in the anarchy of the storm, an anchor is all the
hope a ship has to save it from the will of the water.
The
anchor is essential, but it is more than just a weight. An anchor grabs hold of
something secure, something that the chaos of the waves cannot move; it holds
on to the floor of the sea. Storms come and go, hurricanes rage, and lightning
strikes, but the sea's floor is unbothered by all of these things. The anchor
seeks out that stability, grasps on to the thing that will not move, and then
transfers that steadiness to the ship above that is being tossed around by the pandemonium
of the waves. If you can see the anchor, it is useless. But if the anchor is
hidden beneath the water, it is hard at work providing stability for the ship.
Our
anchor is our hope, but it is not directed down to the ground but rather
upwards to heaven. Our hope and our stability are found in a God who cannot be
moved, who stands with us through the chaos of life. And he is the one who
dwells behind the curtain in the most holy place. Charles Spurgeon makes this
observation.
"Our anchor is like
every other, when it is of any use it is out of sight. When a man sees the
anchor it is doing nothing, unless it happen to be some small stream anchor or
grapnel in shallow water. When the anchor is of use it is gone: there it went
overboard with a splash; far down there, all among the fish, lies the iron
holdfast, quite out of sight. Where is your hope, brother? Do you believe
because you can see? That is not believing at all."
Our
faith is the anchor that holds us close to the God who cannot be moved, and
because of him, we have hope.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7
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