Hope of Christmas

What do you expect and hope for this Christmas season? I’m really looking forward to all of the holiday concerts and parties that we’ve missed over the last few years. I’m also looking forward to spending time with family and, of course, eating a lot of Christmas cookies! I enjoy watching Christmas movies, especially the ones from my childhood. (Here’s a link from a Christmas movie that tells the story straight from Luke 2.) With so many fun activities scheduled in one month, I also expect a season of being busy and not always having enough time to keep up.

This is why the Christian church started the celebration of Advent many centuries ago. Just as Lent is a time to focus on Jesus’ sacrifice in the weeks leading up to Easter, Advent is a season to look back on Jesus’ first coming and His birth in Bethlehem, as well as to look forward to His future return. Celebrating Advent encourages us to focus on Jesus more than on all of the decorations, parties, and events.

The first week of advent is a focus on hope. What are you hoping for this Christmas? When I first started thinking about it, I realized that I was really listing my expectations rather than hopes. Hopes are much more secure than expectations, because they are grounded in the truth of who God is and that He has great things planned for us. Our hope is in a faithful and sovereign God. So I will try this season to focus my hopes on the things He has planned for me rather than the things I have planned myself. I pray that you, too, will find God’s hope in the midst of any and all circumstances you are facing.

Psalm 33:22 May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you.