Advent (day 3)
The emphasis during the first week of Advent is hope. We will be considering various aspects of biblical hope each day this week.
Hope is described by the Holman Bible Dictionary as:
The words which are most often used to connote “hope” in the Bible mean "to look for something with eager expectation" ... "to rely on something reliable" ... "trust" ... "to endure" ... "to expect".
Remember childhood when we longed for Christmas morning to come because it was a magical time? Where has that kind of anticipation gone in our lives?
Our deepest longing is for God himself – to see him without the veil of this flesh, to know him without doubt. But this longing has been stifled by duty and hardship, and we have consequently misplaced our hope in material things and people and circumstance.
In the season of Advent we are awakened to this question: “What do I long for now?” The answer won't come easily. The more we walk around with that question, and let it penetrate through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more powerfully we will experience Advent.
Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 33
Hope is described by the Holman Bible Dictionary as:
Trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God's promises. Biblical hope is the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God's guidance. More specifically, hope is the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future.
This contrasts to the world's definition of hope as “a feeling that what is wanted will happen.” Understood in this way, hope can denote either a baseless optimism or a vague yearning after an unattainable good. If hope is to be genuine hope, however, it must be founded on something (or someone) which affords reasonable grounds for confidence in its fulfillment. The Bible bases its hope in God and His saving acts.
The words which are most often used to connote “hope” in the Bible mean "to look for something with eager expectation" ... "to rely on something reliable" ... "trust" ... "to endure" ... "to expect".
Remember childhood when we longed for Christmas morning to come because it was a magical time? Where has that kind of anticipation gone in our lives?
Our deepest longing is for God himself – to see him without the veil of this flesh, to know him without doubt. But this longing has been stifled by duty and hardship, and we have consequently misplaced our hope in material things and people and circumstance.
In the season of Advent we are awakened to this question: “What do I long for now?” The answer won't come easily. The more we walk around with that question, and let it penetrate through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more powerfully we will experience Advent.
Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 33
posted by Bob | 12:22 PM
1 Comments:
I was reading the Psalm 33 passage this morning and this verse jumped out at me,
"3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy."
I liked the "play skillfully" part. Perhaps it is because of the men's retreat and my focus on masculinity lately, but it speaks to my need to be competent in what I do and what I know. If I am going to play, or work, or learn, or whatever, I must do it "skillfully." Thanks for posting that scripture for today.
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