We talk about "hope" a lot around here. At church we'll talk and sing and read about how our hope is in God. Our hope is in the teachings and sacrifice of Christ, Jesus. Our hope is in the friendship of the Holy Spirit. Our hope is accounted for in scripture. Our hope is in the promises of forever we've been made.

‍At church, we'll talk and sing like that.

‍But then Monday comes. Our jobs, our families, our relationships, our activities come. And too many of us don't invest our hope in God in the end, but rather we put our hope in our world or ourselves. We put our hope in what we can control and what we can put our hands on. We don't work like we have hope in God, we work like WE'RE our only hope. We hope the paycheck will be enough. We parent or spouse like WE'RE our only hope. And we hope our meager and fallible efforts will be enough.

And when that doesn't prove enough and we reach the end of ourselves, we'll put our hope in what the world offers as solutions. Self-help books and self-realization seminars. Self-esteem podcasts and self-love affirmations. And then, when we STILL don't have hope, we'll search the world only to find self-infliction and self-affliction sorts-of-means to forget our hopelessness, if only for one night or one weekend or one season.

‍We're investing our hope in the wrong place!

‍The job is NEVER gonna be enough to fulfill me.

The recognition, the position, the membership, the relationship, the title, the vacation, the car, the raise... none of it. But I keep investing my hope in it. I wonder if you do, too. I keep working from behind hoping that this next quarter or this next fiscal year or this next season will turn it all around for me. But I'm throwing my investment away!

There's only one way to invest my hope and that's in who I am in Jesus (and who he is in me). Period.

It's the only hope that matters. It's the only hope that pays dividends that mean anything.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIRV)“Do not gather for yourselves riches on earth. Moths and rats can destroy them. Thieves can break in and steal them. Instead, gather for yourselves riches in heaven. There, moths and rats do not destroy them. There, thieves do not break in and steal them. Your heart will be where your riches are."

The season of advent is all about waiting. And in the first week of advent we consider how we wait in hope.

Let me encourage you to set aside yourself and the books and the distractions this Christmastime. Start investing your hope in God and his promises and see how it pays off in 2024!

Praying for God's grace and peace in your life,

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