ADVENT WEEK ONE: HOPE

December 2 F. Douglas Powe Jr., PhD

Jeremiah 33:14-16

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I

made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Jeremiah 33:14

We all at one time or another have experienced someone promising us some-

thing and we cling to the hope that one day the promise will be fulfilled. In this

Jeremiah text, it begins with God saying, “the days are coming when I will ful-

fill my promise.”

For those who have been clinging to the hope of the promise being fulfilled

this is a welcome relief. God is going to deliver the people from exile in Baby-

lon, restore the Davidic king, and re-establish Jerusalem.

As you continue reading the text notice the details provided for how the

promise will be fulfilled. God will bring forth a sprout from David’s line that will

be good news to both Israel and Judah.

Sometimes when we are clinging to hope that a promise will be fulfilled, we

need the type of details provided in this text. Simply repeating the promise no

longer bolsters our hope. We need something more concrete to keep us mov-

ing forward so that our hope will come to fruition.

During this time of Advent consider what promises you have been making to

others. If you intend to keep these promises (hopefully you do), then what are

the details you can share so that those seeking fulfillment of the promise do

not lose hope? Keeping promises goes a long way to helping all of us to main-

tain hopeful expectations.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.