A prisoner of hope...

In my bible readings this week, I finished off the book of  Zechariah.  Strange book, Zechariah. It is chock full of strange imagery and apocalyptic visions.  It is a strange book.

But one phrase in the book captured my moral imagination.  Zechariah talks about God's people being a "prisoner of hope" (and I failed to mark it as I read it, and of course, had a dickens of a time finding it.  Thank God for searchable bible databases! ) It says in Zechariah 9:12:

Return to the stronghold,
      You prisoners of hope.
      Even today I declare
      That I will restore double to you.

So, I have been pondering this idea of being a "prisoner of hope".  That means I can't escape it.  No matter how hard I try to be discouraged or how thoroughly I am tempted to despair, I am a prisoner of hope. That hope binds me, and in some way, defines me.  And earlier in that same passage, Zechariah describes the source of that hope:

 ⁹ “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
      Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
      Behold, your King is coming to you;
      He is just and having salvation,
      Lowly and riding on a donkey,
      A colt, the foal of a donkey.

So I am a prisoner of hope in Christ; and not dependent on my feelings, my righteousness, my successes or failures.  That hope depends not on my emotional color du jour, but on that humble King, bringing salvation.  What a great place to be held captive!