THE FAMILY ALTAR 

April 16.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which

according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto

a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

1 Pet. 1:3.

Human hopes are like pretty, but elusive butterflies — always

on the wing ! Though the children of men eagerly chase after them,

they rarely, if ever, catch them. It is even as Wordsworth sings:

"Hopes, what are they? Beads of morning Strung on slender

blades of grass; Or a spider's web adorning In a strait and

treacherous path.". How few men realize their "great expectations"

in life! But of the hopes of the hypocrite and the wicked the

Bible says, they are like spider-webs and shall utterly perish.

To the unbeliever the grave spells the end of all his fondest hopes.

Death for him means the end of all. Whoever has witnessed the

utter despair of unbelievers at the grave of their loved ones, and

has heard their heart-piercing wails of hopeless grief, knows what

it means to be without hope. It is different with God's people,

with true Christians. By nature their hearts also are bereft of

all blessed hope for eternity. But God in His abundant mercy

has begotten them again unto a lively hope by the resurrection

of their Savior. Because He lives, they firmly know and believe

that they and their dear dead ones shall live also. Though they

also weep, weep bitterly, at the grave of their loved ones, they

do not weep as those which have no hope. With the eyes of faith

they see in the coffin the cradle of a new and glorified body, and

in the grave a chamber of undisturbed repose, in the graveyard

God's acre, where the Lord sows seeds of immortality. Yes, their

hope is a lively hope, displaying and exercising its divine and

comforting power when to human eyes everything seems dark and

hopeless. And by what means does the Father of mercies and

the God of all comfort work this blessed hope in them? Peter

tells us in v. 23 : "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but

of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth

forever." Then let us diligently use the Word of God and ask

Him in our daily prayers to work such lively hope in us; for

we know not when death shall come to our doors. In the midst

of life we are in death. But if we have this hope of everlasting

life in us by the resurrection of our Savior, we can welcome death

at all times as a smiling angel of peace sent by the heavenly

Father to carry us home, home to Jesus.