We're always preparing for something. Every day, we make preparations to go to work or school, to eat meals, to go to bed. Sometimes, we make extensive preparations for important events like a wedding or the birth of a child.

Peter encourages us to be prepared for something that could occur at any time. "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15).

Opportunities to share your hope in Christ occur every day, as others see your Christian faith in action. When you endure suffering and pain with a quiet trust in God's promises and care; when you make worship and Bible study the priority in your life; when you patiently put up with ridicule because of your Christian faith; when the Christian life you live means that you think, talk, and act differently; others may ask, "How can you do this? Why do you act like this?" Are you prepared to give an answer?

How can we always be prepared? We can remember what makes our hope something to share. "Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Peter again reminds us that Christ's work for us is what gives us the certain expectation of heaven. Jesus' perfect sacrifice for us—the innocent dying for the guilty—makes all the difference in our living and our dying. That's a message worth sharing.

We can also be prepared when we remember what God has done in our lives to make us his saved children. Peter points to a single event when the sure hope of heaven Jesus won for all people became our personal possession. "Baptism . . . now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21). In Baptism, my sins and yours were washed away. We were rescued from the terror of eternity in hell. We are connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus. That's what makes our hope of heaven so certain. That's what gives us confidence to face suffering, sadness, persecution, and problems.

When we live secure in the hope we have, people will ask what makes us tick. They will want to know more. God gives us opportunities to speak. Let's always be prepared to share our hope in Christ. We could be God's tool to change someone's life and eternity.

EXPLORING THE WORD

1. What can help us give the reason for the hope that we have?