Christians must start living out their hope now

Quintus Heine

Mark 1:40,41  A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

A movie that made a great impression on me was The Shawshank Redemption. The story is about a young man called Andy, an ordinary person like you and me, imprisoned despite his innocence. Yet he never lost his hope for freedom ‑ even after thehead warden killed the only witness who could prove his innocence. After 20 years in prison he managed to escape and make his own freedom! But the story's appeal does not lie in Andy's hope finally becoming reality, it lies in the hope he gave the other prisoners during the time he was incarcerated.

Despite the appalling conditions in jail, he gave the other prisoners a new outlook on life. He helped them to set up a library. He taught a man to read and assists him in enrolling for a diploma. He helps the wardens to manage their finances. He showed his fellow prisoners that there is always hope. The film ends with a man who was in jail for 40 years and always doubted Andy's optimism, finally being released and finding new meaning in life. All because Andy taught him to hope!

In today's passage, Jesus became involved with the life of leper and gave him hope.  One of the greatest gifts we can give someone is to teach them to hope. Hope is not just something for the future, it should be lived every day of your life. We need to help others to live with hope.

Sometimes we need to help people to change their own thinking so that, amid difficult circumstances, they are still able to hope. You teach people to hope by getting involved in their pain and suffering. It is only when others experience love, care and commitment at our hands that they know it is possible to hope.

Jesus taught us that we must live with hope today and share it with others.

Prayer: Lord help me, through my own hope-filled life, to help others to hope.