« Advent 1 - Tuesday | Main | Advent 1 - Thursday »
Advent 1 - Wednesday
By Pat Lee | December 3, 2008
Wednesday December 3, 2008
God Keeps His Promises
Scripture Reading: Romans 5: 1-5
Scripture Verse: “…and hope does not disappoint us” Romans 5:5
These days when I grab the end of the wishbone from the turkey, I take the weak end to that one of my great-nieces or great-nephews will get the big end when it breaks so she or he “gets their wish”. When, however, I was a child (and dinosaurs ruled the earth) and the breaking of the wishbone occurred with my sister, I’d do my best to get the winning end. We never really banked on the wish coming true…winning and getting to make the wish was the point.
The Bible doesn’t speak of “wishing” but of “hoping”. We live in hope that God will come and redeem this world where “the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now”. (Romans 8:22) The reason such hope is not just wishful thinking is that God keeps his promises.
God promised through Abraham and Sarah that the entire world would be blessed and here we are, children of God. God promised a Messiah and kept his promise in Jesus. God promised to defeat the power of sin and death and did so at Easter. God promised that common folk like us would have His Holy Spirit, and Pentecost happened. “Our hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5) In the face of all the many things we don’t understand, we still hope because God keeps his promises.
In many places the Bible speaks as is the world will be shattered before the golden age (2 Peter 3:10, etc.) but we hope for a “new heaven and earth where righteousness is at home.” (2 Peter 3:13). Jesus likens it to birth pains and promises that, like a new mother, we will ultimately rejoice, and “no-one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22)
Whatever is coming in our future, God is also coming, so we always have hope—a sure hope.
Prayer: Lord, no matter where we go tomorrow, you will be there.
Topics: Advent |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.