"My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"

     This is the opening line to the hymn that contains the refrain: "On Christ the solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand." The text was written by Edward Mote, and the music composed by Dmitri Bortnianksy. The entirety of the first line is as follows: "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."
     For those of you that read last week's post, it was also about hope. Therefore, I see this as a sort of continuation or part II of last Sunday's writing. Last week I talked about how our hope should never be shaken if we are placing it in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this week is an exhortation to actually put that into practice. Understanding doctrinal truths is one thing; living them out is another.
     Notice that the text says "nothing less". I was curious at first as to why it doesn't say "nothing more" instead. Who would want anything less than what Jesus Christ has given us? Wouldn't the struggle be more in wanting something more than Jesus Christ to build our hope upon?
     But that's just it. The author is revealing that adding anything to Christ's work (anything "more") becomes building our hope on an unsure foundation. Christ and Christ alone shall be our all in all. He is the Rock that is big enough and secure enough to lay all of our hopes and aspirations, needs and desires upon, and that he will sustain us.
     Unfortunately, as I said earlier, understanding the truth is not the same as living it out. How many countless times have I failed to build my hopes solely upon my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! How many countless times have I turned from Him, thinking that something else will satisfy my desire, or secure my need! We know that Christ is our Rock, but we fail to treat Him as such.
     The human heart is an idol factory. We twist and corrupt the gifts God has given us and worship them, or we become dissatisfied with what we do have and search after lesser things. We see the grass that appears greener on the other side and we decide to build our home there, even though the Rock may haven proven trustworthy in times past.
     I would exhort you to examine your heart and see where you are building your hope upon. Where do your thoughts linger most often? What consumes your time? What causes your aggravations or irritations? My dad always used to say that whatever your mind turns to first in the morning right after waking up, that is your predominant desire. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where your heart wanders from its Maker.
     I would also exhort you to make time to spend with your Maker. The best cure for an unfaithful heart is to become enraptured with your true love. Climb up the mount where the air is most thin and your mind most clear. "Great things seem little to him who stands high; if he could live among the stars, the earth would seem as nothing." - Thomas Watson. Seeing the glory of God makes all other thing pale in comparison and become insignificant before Him.
     May God continue to work in our hearts that we may see more of Him and less of the world! Draw us nearer Lord; let us build our lives completely and only upon your perfect and finished work!