| Good morning, everyone, Our theme for this month: “Sound doctrine, strong faith” Our Bible verse for today: “For the creation eagerly awaits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed.” Romans 8:19 (CSB) Our thought for today: “The eager anticipation of good things to come” Maybe you have heard the famous quote from William Shakespeare’s play, “The Life of Macbeth.” In this scene Macbeth is mourning the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth. In the depths of his grief, he makes a scathing and cynical assessment of life because he was distraught and depressed. He had no hope for himself or for her, because he wasn’t thinking of her in heaven and of him one day being reunited with her. Instead, he was consumed by his grief and didn’t know what to do with it. He said, “She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day, to the last syllable of recorded time. And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to death. Out, out brief candle. Life is but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” That sense of hopelessness and despair is exactly what Paul was addressing in Romans 8:18-25. Paul recognized that much of life can seem futile and that many people do approach life and death with pessimism and despair. People fear death because they think it’s the end. They have no hope for this life or for the next, for themselves or for their departed loved ones. Henry David Thoreau once described it by saying that “most men live lives of quiet desperation”, because they have no hope. That’s true for many people we meet out there in the world each day. Many of them have little purpose or hope. Many of them have been beaten down by life and they feel as if it is futile and leading to nothing. That’s what both Macbeth and Thoreau were referring to. But Paul had a better perspective than they did. Whereas all Macbeth saw was futility and hopelessness, Paul knew that this life can lead to something better. So much so, that he says all of creation eagerly anticipates what is yet to come. If you are a Christian then, unlike Macbeth, you do have the hope of something more, something better than all the trials and suffering and heartache this life sometimes brings. Nothing lasts forever, and that includes our suffering in this life. Either it passes and you get on with life, or you die and you go to heaven. Either way, as you are dealing with it, you know that God has something better waiting for you. You can live with the eager anticipation of good things yet to come. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
| Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN38571 |
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