Here it is the end of December and we’ve reached the last word I wanted for us to consider for the month – HOPE! We can hope for a lot of things: Hope it doesn’t snow! Hope I get a raise soon! Hope I don’t get covid! And by chance, you may get what you hoped for
But think about this – if the Christmas story was only a fable, the word HOPE would only have one meaning – the meaning found in the dictionary: a feeling that one’s wishes will come true. In fact, none of our words we’ve looked at this month would have the same meaning for us:
Would “LOVE” be the same?
Would “JOY” be the same?”
Would “PEACE” be the same?
Would “HOPE” be the same?
I don’t believe so. We would be living in a totally hopeless world. If someone were to ask us, “Do you know if you will go to heaven when you die?” All we could say is, “I hope so.” We’d never have the “know so hope” that only Jesus can give. Life would be pretty meaningless, wouldn’t it?
Only hours before my husband passed into eternity, 8 years ago the day after Christmas, he wrote on a pad of paper, “Almost home” (referring to heaven). You see, he had a “know so hope,” the assurance that heaven was his home. He had accepted God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord when he was a teenager. He had been looking forward to that for quite some time. And my “know so hope,” is that one day I’ll see him again in glory.
As we close our thoughts on these wonderful “gifts,” let me encourage each of you to keep looking up to an awesome God who looked down on us with such love and compassion that he was willing to send His Son to be born in a manger and then one day give his life on a cruel cross; dying for our sins so that one day, if we trust him as our Savior, we will spend eternity in heaven with him. That’s our “know so hope.” Oh, what a gift!
Because of God’s LOVE, we read in Romans 5:1,2:
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and REJOICE in HOPE of the glory of God.”
All four of our words. All four gifts! That verse says it all! All because of God’s unspeakable gift – JESUS! What wonderful gifts He has given us. We only looked at four; but there are so many more!