Where do you find renewal? What is the foundation for your hope on a daily basis? How do you manage to get through each day with all that is going on in our world? I find comfort, encouragement, and a prescription for renewal in the words of Paul to the Christians at Philippi.prescription

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:17–21)

One should not underestimate the importance of hope. Few writers inspire me more than Dostoevsky. His life story brings credibility to his prescription for life, “To live without Hope is to Cease to live.” Or maybe you can identify with Victor Frankl’s prescription, who in Man’s Search for Meaning wrote “Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”  The comfort I find in the words of Paul is that, regardless of the result of the political conundrum we are facing, as Christians “our citizenship is in heaven.” My salvation has nothing to do with the political process, nor does any aspect of my hope.  Paul reminds us that our Savior – who is also our Lord – is none other than Jesus Christ. Our transformation/renewal will come from him and his power.

Did you notice that he also provides a prescription for renewal? First, we are to imitate Paul and other gifted, spiritual leaders who have demonstrated (“walk according to the example“) their integrity. This is not the only time, nor is Paul the only New Testament writer who encourages us to imitate faithful leaders (cf. 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; Hebrews 6:12, 13:7; and 3 John 11).

Second, our ‘minds’ are not to be occupied with earthly things and our gods should not be our sensual, hedonistic desires (belly). In no way does this mean that we are not to be responsible citizens. As somebody once said, “We should never be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.” Paul commanded the Christians at Rome to “be subject to the governing authorities” at a time when things were not all that good for the Christians.

Some will make a point that Paul’s basis for the statement is that there really is “no authority except from God.”  But do not overlook the fact that he goes on to say that government has “been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1ff, ESV). I do, however, concur with Leon Morris who notes that the word Paul chooses to use is not obey, but “be subject” (submit).  Morris goes on to explain: “There is nothing servile about the attitude to authority that Paul is advocating. He simply looks for a due recognition of the subordinate place that is part of the Christian understanding of life. The Christian is subordinate because he recognizes that the brother is Christ’s representative to him, and in a different way the ruler, who is “God’s servant” (v. 4), is Christ’s representative too.” (Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans, 461)

Vaclav Havel has reminded us of a very important distinction regarding the true nature of hope: “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”  I must admit that I am not optimistic about the future of our country; I certainly believe that if our nation continues down the path we are headed, things will not turn out well.  BUT I STILL HAVE HOPE!  I have hope because,

“My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

And that is the main ingredient in my prescription for daily renewal!