I love history and historical fiction, and my favorite periods to read about are the antebellum and post-Civil War periods. One of the traditions I’ve noticed that has become lost in modern times is packing a hope chest. If you don’t know what a hope chest is, it’s a wooden chest that girls and young women would put items they had sewed for their future home. They’d make quilts, pillowslips, dishcloths, and items for their new wardrobe (also known as a trousseau). When they got married, they’d take the chest with them and be able to supply their new home.
I don’t know exactly when that tradition died, but I haven’t heard of people doing that in a long time. Just as society has left behind that tradition, we have left behind our spiritual hope chest.
We have become so focused on ourselves, no longer preparing for the greatest marriage of all. We need to start packing it again. But instead of quilts, nightgowns, and cross-stitching, we need to fill it with the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18), with 1 Corinthians 13, with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), with the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). We need to pack it with faith.
And faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Instead of sewing a trousseau, we should sow good works. Instead of embroidering verses on samplers, we should be imprinting them on our hearts. We never know when the Lamb will come for His bride, and shouldn’t we be prepared? We’re not here on Earth to sit idle. We’re here to work for His kingdom. So let’s get our metaphorical sewing needle, thread, and thimble and get to work.
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