Wednesday, November 26 Let us rejoice, based on hope of the glory of God.​—Rom. 5:2.

[Áine]

Wednesday, November 26

Let us rejoice, based on hope of the glory of God.—Rom. 5:2.

 

The apostle Paul wrote those words to the congregation in Rome. The brothers and sisters there had learned about Jehovah and Jesus, had exercised faith, and had become Christians. God thus “declared [them] righteous as a result of faith,” and he anointed them with holy spirit. (Rom. 5:1) Yes, they gained a valid, wonderful hope. Paul later wrote to anointed Christians in Ephesus about the hope to which they were called. That hope included receiving “an inheritance for the holy ones.” (Eph. 1:18) And Paul also indicated to the Colossians where their hope would be realized. He called it “the hope that is being reserved for you in the heavens.” (Col. 1:4, 5) The hope of anointed Christians, then, is that they be resurrected to everlasting life in heaven, where they will reign with Christ.—1 Thess. 4:13-17; Rev. 20:6. w23.12 9 ¶4-5

[dljbsp]

Paul’s words tie everything together. Rejoicing isn’t pulled from emotion; it’s anchored in what Jehovah has already set in place. The brothers in Rome had been declared righteous — that was their standing. They were called to an inheritance — that was their direction. And their hope was reserved in the heavens — that was their certainty.

 

Each point builds on the last. Identity, then calling, then destination. When those are fixed, the heart can rejoice even when life is unsettled. Hope isn’t something they had to manufacture. It was something Jehovah placed before them — solid, settled, waiting.

 

The text teaches that joy comes from where we stand spiritually, not from what we face physically. When the foundation is built by Jehovah, the stability follows.