Longing For Deliverance

Another quote from my most oft-read blog: Of First Importance.


“Every time you acknowledge your sin, you long for Jesus too. But you’re not longing for the final sacrifice, because it’s already been made. No, you and I long for final deliverance. We long for that moment when we’ll be taken to the place where sin will be no more. We long to see Jesus, to be with him, and to be like him. Isn’t it comforting to know that that final deliverance has been written into the story as well? It is our guaranteed future. And so we long with hope.”
- Paul David Tripp, Whiter Than Snow (Wheaton, IL.: Crossway Books, 2008), 90.

Aren't there so many things our hearts long for? Some are significant things like a child to a barren woman, a wife to the single man, or healing for the chronically ill. Some longings aren't as significant but are longings nonetheless, like a longing for chocolate (a longing I'm all too familiar with), good weather, or a new wardrobe. Some longings are fulfilled this side of Heaven. Some remain deferred hopes. Isn't this such good news that the fulfillment of the greatest thing our hearts could and do long for, "final deliverance" from our sin, has been guaranteed for those who believe in Jesus! So, whatever you are longing for today, may you most long for final deliverance and therefore "long with hope".