Anchored?

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

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“…Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13, ESV).

I’m so struck by this verse. You and I are to set our hope fully on the grace that’s coming up ahead. What is this “grace” referring to? We know from the context that it’s heaven: “…an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (v. 4).

Fully. He is calling us to put all of our hope in our promised Paradise. All of it. All of our eggs in one basket, so to speak. If we set all of our hope on heaven, this means that we set none of it on earthly things. Practically speaking, it means we don’t base our hope on whether we can buy that beautiful home of our dreams. Our hope is not to be based on material possessions. It is not to be based on acquiring a certain amount of social status or success. It is not even to be based on having a loving family. It is not to be based on finding happiness in this life. If we take this verse seriously, all of our hope is to be set on heaven. Absolutely all of it.

Now, none of that is to say that any of the above desires are bad. On the contrary, God puts important desires in our hearts that He fully intends to satisfy with beautiful gifts here on this earth. Desiring His good gifts, and setting our hope on them, however, are two very different things.

What is the difference? It comes down to this. Where are we anchoring our soul? The Bible says that our hope is to be an anchor for our soul (Heb. 6:19). What you put your hope in, then, is what you are using as your anchor. Again, we can and should ask ourselves, where am I anchoring my soul? Is it in His promise of eternal life with Him in paradise?

Setting this much hope on heaven can be challenging to many of us. Heaven can seem so far away, so theoretical. Jesus is inviting us to ask of Him – to ask Him to make it real to our hearts. Only He can do that for us.

Here’s a thought that may help with this. This is how God refers to the end of the world: “For [Jesus] must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21, NLT). Heaven means just that – the restoration of all things. Jesus also beautifully expresses this, prophesying to us about heaven, in the book of Revelation. First, He gives us the breathtaking announcement that there will be no more pain there. Then He announces, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5, ESV).

What does restoration mean, then? It means that He takes something precious to you, and He makes it new. Heaven is going to be everything wholesome that is precious to you. Everything that has been life-giving to you on this earthly sojourn will be restored to you in Heaven. Everything that nurtures your soul will be there, only a million billion times more so. Every bit of beauty that has ever taken your breath away will seem pale and shadowy in comparison to the exquisite sights and sounds that your enhanced five senses will take in there. Joy that far surpasses the most euphoric happiness you have tasted will surge through you continually. Best of all, His intimate, loving presence will saturate you unceasingly.

You are not going to float on a cloud with a harp for eternity watching naked cherubs flit by you. Heaven is going to feel like home so much more than your home right now even does. God doesn’t tell us to look forward to heaven because He is demanding and unrealistic. He tells us to do so because He knows. He knows that going there will be exceedingly better than our life ever has been on earth. If you ask Him to, He’ll make it so real to you that you can taste it.

Here’s how we partner with that. When you anticipate something, it occupies your thoughts. You and I get to choose our meditation here on earth day to day. Let’s ask Him to give us a glorious obsession with the Home He has gone to prepare for us. Let’s feed that obsession, disciplining our thoughts to turn frequently to the bliss He has promised up ahead. Let’s do it. Let’s set our hope fully on the stunning grace that is to come when He is revealed.

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Does heaven seem real to you? Do you think about it often?

23 thoughts on “Anchored?”

      2. “Interesting” is a safe word 😉 Ain’t that the truth! I am glad it was a peaceful moment for the two of you. Speaking His blessings of grace and peace over your home! (And yes, it was a refreshing time, thank you!)

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  2. AMEN Jenn; always striking the nail on the head as always ✌️⭐. This was a beautiful thing to read and it was a blessed pleasure of mine to be able to embrace you for it and to be enlightened by your perspective and enriched by the message of the lord 😄 ❤ <3.

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      1. AMEN pata he does, and I rejoice along with you.

        The ship of sin may have already sailed but with a righteous-anchor from GOD, we have the capacity to remain steady without drifting too far into the icebergs of titanic sinking 😄

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  3. Thanks for a really encouraging post.
    A woman whom met on a pilgrimage to Israel got to know me well during our travels.
    At the end of our trip she told me : “Sally, you are obsessed with God”.
    I considered this a great compliment. 😄

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    1. YES! That is one of the best compliments you could possibly get, Sally! Smiling big about that one. (The late reply is because I was on vacation for the last couple weeks — had preprogrammed the devos that came out during that time on my site. I hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving!)

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  6. Wonderful post! I believe that since God resides within us, heaven cannot be that far away. In some ways, heaven is already manifest within our hearts here and now. The more we focus on God, the more our souls seem to expand and the more love God pours into us. Heaven is a real place and I do not mean to confuse the two. But, heaven is closer than we think.

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    1. I really like those thoughts, Linda. Reminds me of when Jesus said that the Kingdom is within us. Of course we will experience the fullness of it when we get to heaven at the end of our lives, but you are right, it has already beautifully come inside of us! Thank you so much for sharing that ❤

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  7. “Everything that nurtures your soul will be there, only a million billion times more so.” This made me chuckle, at just how far-fetched it can seem in spite of the absolute truth behind the words. It’s often his I break myself out of feeling sad for a sports team I support losing, or a difficult problem at work: in heaven these will all be things of the past and no longer troubles for me, so I work hard to give even these seemingly trivial worries of mine over to God. 😊

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