Find Hope: Matthew 1-4Намуна

Promises

I don't remember the first promise I ever made; in fact, if I'm honest, I don't remember most of the promises I have made. Most of the time, they only require me to do something in the short term, and if it's a long-term promise, everyone usually forgets, and I'm off the hook.

Matthew's gospel begins by reminding us of a promise. It's one of those sections that we skip over because it's a list of names, and we're not really sure what to do with it. But Matthew is showing us where Jesus comes from before he shows us what Jesus will do. He does that because he knows we forget easily, and Jesus is the fulfilment of every promise God has made since the beginning of creation. For us to actually understand just how amazing Jesus is and all he's going to do, we must look back to the promises God has already made about him.

This particular passage takes us all the way back to Genesis and the man Abraham (although the Jesus story actually stretches back to before the beginning!). God made promises to Abraham thousands of years before Jesus' birth that one of Abraham's descendants would be the one to bring God's blessing to people on earth—and now, finally, he is here!

Today, ponder this: Is there a particular promise that God has made (and fulfilled in Jesus!) that will make a difference in the way you navigate the circumstances of life today?