‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish,
spoil or fade…’ (1 Peter 1:4)
In her heyday, ‘Baby Doe’ (1854 – 1935) was one of the most attractive, flamboyant and desirable women. She used to be a proud owner of a $4000 diamond, previously the property of the queen of Spain. A divorcee, she moved to Colorado where she met and became Tabor’s mistress, an ‘ex- one month term’ US senator and wealthy silver mining magnate who made his fortune from his ‘Matchless Mine’, near Colorado. He was once estimated to be worth $11 million making him one of the wealthiest men in Colorado.
Tabor divorced his wife of 25 years to marry Baby Doe. He was twice her age. Their wedding was one of the outstanding social events that even attracted the attendance of the President of the USA.
During a serious economic depression in the USA, Tabor’s wealth was decimated. He was left penniless and broken hearted. Just before he died, he reportedly whispered to Baby Doe, “Have faith in the ‘Matchless Mine; never let it go. It will give you back all that I have lost”.
By now, Baby Doe, was a shadow of herself and destitute. Her celebrity status had all but diminished but she put her hope in Tabor’s words and moved herself near the mine and safeguarded it for the next 36 years even after when she lost the title to the mine.
In 1935, at 81 years of age, she was discovered, frozen to death in a dilapidated shack near the mine that her husband had her put her hopes in for 36 years. The hope of a reversal of fortune that she thought ‘Matchless Mine’ would bring, never materialised. Her life came to a sad and terrible end because she had put her faith and hope in the wrong object.
Hope is vital and the loss of it can have a devastating effect on us but equally devastating is placing our hope in the wrong place. Who and what do you put your hope in?
The apostle Peter writing to encourage believers whose strength, hope or maybe even their faith were fading in the midst of the persecution they were facing, begins his letter by urging them to remember that through Jesus their preeminent, resurrected, all loving, all faithful, all compassionate glorious, faithful, compassionate Lord and Saviour, they have received a living hope!
Paul emphatically declares, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Colossians 1:27). This means Jesus is right there in the thick of whatever it is we’re facing. We are not alone. Not only that, God is working our lives out for good. He has us where we are for a reason and for a season, sustaining, comforting and guiding us all the way.
Hope abounds even in the midst of our habitual sins and failings because they are never greater that God’s grace to accept, forgive and transform us. And finally, we have hope for the future that one day the whole of creation will be set free from its bondage to corruption and decay and receive the freedom of the of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8:21).
As we enter Advent, a time of preparation and anticipation of Christ’s coming, may we celebrate and be rooted in Jesus, our living hope!
Mark
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