Down to Earth: A Christmas Devotional JourneySample

Day 7: Hope In Unexpected Places

Reflection

Winter is here. Amid the short days and long, cold nights, we need the bright, joyful celebration of Christmas.

Isaiah might agree. It’s dark out there.

But Isaiah promised a time of Hope. The despair of darkness replaced with the Hope of a New, Brighter Dawn. A whole New Era. Something is coming that will change everything. SomeOne is coming.

Every new thing has to start somewhere. Ideas – as well as people – have to be born. And there’s no greater idea than Hope. Hope is what keeps you going. Whether in sports or politics, few have shoulders broad enough to take on the hopes and expectations of a nation. What about the hopes of the world? No one could carry that weight, surely. No ordinary person, anyway.

Jesus isn’t an ordinary person. His Birth really did bring in a New Age. With Jesus in the world, everything is different, or will be. Because there is no one else who could seriously take the titles He was born with: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The Hope of Life After Death found in the Resurrection, the Hope of the Permanent Work of the Spirit, the Hope of a Renewed World where Peace and Wholeness reign – all this starts somewhere. With a Birth. With a Baby in a manger. For to us a Child is given.

Prayer

Father, help me to be a person of Hope wherever I find myself, because of the Hope I first found in Jesus. Amen