The Anchor For Our Soul!

Good Monday Morning!  As I concluded teaching Hebrews six the other day, there was something so beautiful that the Lord showed me during my study, and I just have to share it with you.  I want to encourage you today with this simple but profound truth; HOPE is the Anchor for our Soul!  Let me start this morning by sharing with you a portion of scripture found in Hebrews 6.  The author begins by describing how God has confirmed His Promises to us (the heirs of Abraham) by two Unchangeable things, His Promise and His oath.  The author then tells us this in Hebrews 6:18-20, “We who have fled to take hold of the HOPE offered to us may be Greatly Encouraged.  We have this HOPE as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who Went Before Us, has entered on our behalf.”  For those of us who have chosen to put our faith in Jesus Christ (no turning back) we may be Greatly encouraged, because we have fled the things of this world in order to take hold of this Incredible HOPE offered to us through our Savior!  It is Very important we understand both what Hope IS and what it IS NOT!  This Hope the Bible speaks of is NOT Wishful Thinking.  It is not what you may hear others say when they make statements such as, “I Hope it doesn’t rain today!” OR “I Hope they have those shoes in my size!”  Those statements are wishful thinking and are not the same HOPE that has been offered to us in Christ Jesus!  Here is what Hope means.  It means Favorable and CONFIDENT EXPECTATION!  A Forward Look With Assurance!  Anticipation with Pleasure!  The Hope we have is the very opposite of “wishful thinking,” it is Confident Expectation!  With this Hope, we can look Forward with Assurance!!  Knowing that ALL the Promises of God to US are Fulfilled in Jesus.  2 Cor. 1:20 tells us that through Him every promise has been answered with a resounding Yes! We can look ahead with Great Pleasure as we anticipate the reality of those promises!  We can be encouraged because we have THIS HOPE as an Anchor for our souls, firm and secure!!  I want to share with you what the Holy Spirit led me to as I was studying this.  He placed on my heart to study the old ships of this day and the anchor system they had.  I wanted to get an idea of what the author may have been drawing from as he gives us this powerful word picture.  This is the only place in scripture we get this particular word picture and I wanted to know how this symbol of an anchor came to be THE SYMBOL for the early Church as they were enduring such heavy persecution in Rome.  As I was studying ships around this era, I came upon a word I had never heard of.  It is the word, “Kedging.”  If you are anything like me, you may be unfamiliar with this word as well, so I want to explain to you what this nautical term means.  We have to first understand that, at this time, dropping an anchor correctly could mean life or death for sailors in the middle of a storm.  It was extremely important to drop the anchor in the Perfect spot!  One way seamen would ensure that happened was by Kedging.  Kedging would take place as a few certain sailors would take the anchor into a smaller boat and carry it OUT and AWAY from the large boat in search of the best place to drop the anchor.  They knew where the anchor needed to be taken, so they would go ahead of everyone else with the anchor, and take it as far out as they needed in order to find that spot.  When they found the best place, where the anchor could be firmly established, they would drop it there.  Once that anchor was secured, the rest of the sailors on the large boat would use the rope attached to the anchor and begin pulling themselves toward the anchor.  Every time, after a great pull forward, they would wrap that rope around a large hook on their vessel.  They would continue this until they reached their final place of safety!  That is Kedging!  If the storm was too great for them to continue moving forward they were held firm until they could advance again!  Now, thinking about this, I want us to hear again what anchor we have and what Jesus did for us!  “We have this HOPE as an ANCHOR for the soul, firm and secure.  It Enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus who WENT BEFORE US, has entered on our behalf!”  Did you hear that?  The hope we have as an anchor has been taken BEFORE us into the inner sanctuary, behind the curtain by Jesus Christ!  Are you picking up what it is that Jesus did?  As He died and uttered the words, “It IS Finished,” The veil that had separated everyone from God’s Presence in the Holy of Holies was torn in two!  Jesus, who is our HOPE for ETERNITY, took our Anchor and went OUT before us, behind the curtain and into the inner sanctuary of the very Throne Room of God and planted our anchor right there in the very presence of God where it remains forever, firm and secure!!!  That is where our Anchor lies, and it is our job, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to spend the rest of our lives drawing ever closer to that anchor!  We now continue, everyday, to pull ourselves closer to Christ, our HOPE and our Anchor, until one day, as we reach the source of that anchor, we will be forever docked in the presence of God!!!  We have been Kedged!!!  Our anchor has been firmly secured before us and there is nothing that can shake it from its place in eternity!!!  When storms in this life make it hard to move forward we can rest, knowing that we are held firm until we can advance again!  This is the HOPE we have!!!  IT CAN NOT BE SHAKEN!!!  “We rest on His unchanging Grace!  In Every High and Stormy Gale, Our Anchor HOLDS WITHIN THE VEIL!!!”

Scriptures to meditate on:  Hebrews 6:10-20, Romans 8:24-25, 2 Cor. 1:20, Titus 1:1-2, Rom. 15:13