Daily Devotional
Do You Have Hope?

April 17, 2022

Ponder This

I was at a funeral. The beautiful flowers were there. I walked around looking at the flowers, and I saw one beautiful bouquet. You could tell it was done by the grandchildren. This was an elderly man, a saint on this earth, a dear member of the church. And on the floral offering it said, “To Pop-Pop.”

And I stood there, as is the pastor’s habit as people come by, and I saw that precious widow, who’d walked with her husband for more than a half a century and was a lady of great faith. She was not in despair. She walked up and laid her hand on his sleeve and touched him, patted it a couple of times and turned and walked away. And I thought to myself, “Is that it? Is that all there is to life? Pop-Pop is gone? Her husband is gone?” No! Death does not have dominion! Christ is risen! Those who have fallen asleep in Christ have not perished. He is alive.

• How have you experienced the hope that comes from Christ when losing a loved one?
• How does the resurrection give us hope not just for the future, but for today?

Practice This

Make a list of the ways the resurrection provides hope for followers of Jesus.