有人曾这样说，人心需要盼望，就像人的肺需要氧气一样。保罗深知我们需要有盼望。不可忘记，这封信是保罗为那些活在黑暗残酷的罗马政府之下的基督徒而写的。在前途未卜与动荡不安中，盼望的种子是很难寻找得到的。
我估计你和我一样，常常落在前途未卜和动荡不安中。或许一位所爱的人刚收到一个令人忧心的诊断，前路实在叫人惶恐；或许你与儿女或朋友的关系破裂，你不知道能否或何时可以修好；又或许你不能确定，那位完全清楚你的过去和你心的神，会不会接纳你和爱你。
保罗给我们每一个人带来这个盼望，一个非常有力的盼望。它不但能平息我们的恐惧，更能促使我们发出感谢。这个盼望建基于一个真理：纵然我们多么软弱，又充满罪，基督已经为我们受死了。还有，祂更从死里复活了！我们有这盼望，是因为死亡已被毁灭，是因为基督已经胜过坟墓的权势。这个世界实在没有比这个更大的盼望了。
世界上的黑暗和变幻无常不能决定我们的命运，惟有神才能。而神更带着这更新生命的爱，主动来寻找我们。所以，今天让我们存着盼望生活，又为我们的救主基督感谢吧！
神啊，祢丰富的慈爱是我们想像不到的，今天求祢以盼望充满我们。奉我们复活的救主的名，我们欢欣祈求。阿们！
罗马书 5:1-6
1我们既因信称义，就藉着我们的主耶稣基督得与神相和。
2我们又藉着他，因信得进入现在所站的这恩典中，并且欢欢喜喜盼望神的荣耀。
3不但如此，就是在患难中也是欢欢喜喜的；因为知道患难生忍耐，
4忍耐生老练，老练生盼望；
5盼望不至于羞耻，因为所赐给我们的圣灵将神的爱浇灌在我们心里。
6因我们还软弱的时候，基督就按所定的日期为罪人死。
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." — Romans 5:6
It’s been said that our souls need hope the way our lungs need oxygen. Paul knew about our need for hope. It’s good to keep in mind that Paul was writing to Christians living under the dark, oppressive grip of Roman power. Seeds of hope were hard to scrounge up in the midst of the thorns of uncertainty and turmoil.
My guess is that you—like me—are often surrounded by situations of uncertainty and turmoil. Maybe a loved one has received a troubling diagnosis and the path ahead is frightening. Maybe you have a strained relationship with a child or friend and you’re uncertain if or when it might be restored. Or maybe you are uncertain whether God, who knows your past and heart completely, will accept and love you.
Paul extends hope to each one of us—a hope so powerful that it can both calm our fears and move us to give thanks. That hope is built on the truth that even though we are powerless and sinful, Christ died for us. And there’s more: Christ rose again from the dead. So our hope is forged out of death’s destruction, out of Christ’s victory over the grave. There’s no greater hope in this world.
The darkness and uncertainties in the world around us do not get the final word. God does. And God reaches out with life-renewing love to us. So let’s live this day with hope, giving thanks for Christ, our Savior!
O God, your love is beyond imagining. Fill us with hope today. We pray and rejoice in the name of our risen Savior. Amen!
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
