Advent 2020 – Day 5

Welcome back to Day 5 on our journey exploring the Advent theme of HOPE.

At the memorial service for my husband, my son-in-law Anthony shared his memories of being a student in Gene’s classroom. Anthony explained that sometimes as he listened to lectures from his professors, he would hear them say something that did not ring true, and Anthony assumed that the professor had simply made an error. But when Anthony raised his hand in Gene’s class to point out something he assumed had been said in error, he learned that Gene had not made a mistake. Instead, Anthony discovered that his own assumption was wrong, based on incomplete knowledge.

Some people make the same mistake when it comes to faith in Christ. They assume they know more than those who have walked in faith for entire lifetimes. They assume that our hope of eternal life is foolishness. In 1 Cor. 3:18-19, the Apostle Paul refuted that sentiment, saying, “Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, ‘He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.’”

False hopes (see yesterday’s post) are different from false assumptions about hope. My husband Gene was a brilliant man by this world’s standards. He diligently studied scripture. He realized he had only a partial knowledge of all that God was, but Gene knew enough to be confident and have a clear hope in the resurrection.

As Christmas approaches this year, are you wise enough to have hope in all God’s promises? Which of those promises give you confidence for the future? (One of my favorites is in Isaiah 46:3,4.) Why not write out the promise in scripture that means most to you and memorize it as your “thank you” to God this season?