Thank you for returning as we start this 2020 Advent journey on the theme of HOPE.
My Texas grandchildren are named Simeon and Anna Hope. My son and his wife named their son and daughter for the two people whom Mary and Joseph met in the Temple when they went to dedicate their son Jesus.
Luke 2 describes Simeon as “a righteous and devout man. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.” Simeon had waited many years and hoped to see the Messiah before he died.
Anna was also in the Temple that day. A widow, 84 years old, she saw the baby and immediately began to talk “about Jesus to everyone who had been waiting for the promised King to come and deliver Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38) Like Simeon, Anna hoped that Jesus would deliver Israel.
The Hebrew word for hope is tikvah, and it conveys a sense of expectation, of expectancy. It means “the thing that I long for.” In Psalm 130:5,6 says, “I am counting on the Lord…I have put my hope in His Word. I long for the Lord…more than sentries long for the dawn.”
As Christmas arrives this year, what is on your wish list? What do you hope for? Is it a new gadget, a vague feeling or is it something your heart truly yearns for?
Thank you, Emily, for ths Advent Series. We must have hope to continue in this world. It is the one thing we all need.