Advent Devotional: Make Room for Jesusنموونە

Day 2: Make Room for Hope

Hope is very powerful. It can actually mark us. It doesn’t matter your faith background, ethnicity, or income. We all need hope in our lives. Most times the way hope is delivered to us is through promises…promises that life will not always be as it is right now. Our God is a promise-maker but, more importantly, our God is a promise-keeper! Throughout the Bible, God made promises to His people that He would send His presence to the earth. And in doing that, they would have hope for a future. Today, we know that those promises came true and the fulfillment of hope came in the form of a baby born in a manger who grew up to be a King. As we go back into the Old Testament over these next several days and read some of God’s promises, we must know these promises are available for us today as well.

Zechariah 10:4 says,

"From Judah will come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler."

In this passage, Zechariah is talking about Jesus’ first coming and describes Jesus as a cornerstone. This is an important concept to understand when building our foundation of hope. The cornerstone is the foundation on which everything rests. Zechariah is setting the stage for God’s people to understand that everything depends on the coming of this Messiah Jesus. He would be what anchored the children of God and gave them strength. Still today He continues to be the firm foundation upon which we can rest our hope. From our finances to our families to our health, God is able to bear the weight of our lives. When we recognize the gift of hope He offers us, it can stabilize us even in the hardest of times.

Reflect:

• Why is it important to recognize Jesus as the cornerstone of your life?
• God promises to send his presence through Jesus. What is keeping you from believing that Jesus can be trusted to be your cornerstone?
• What part of your life needs to be readjusted so that Jesus is the cornerstone? What could this look like?

Pray:

Spend a few minutes praying to God. Tell him an area in our life you need to readjust so that your life can be built on Jesus. Try praying with your hands open to signify your willingness to give God control.