Caribbean Moravian Devotions

Last week one of the headlines that grabbed the nationÂ’s attention dealt with the mega million lottery drawing which reached a grand total of $425 million. By the end of the week when there was no winning number the lottery jackpot had climbed to about $550 million. Even here in the Virgin Islands people were lining up to purchase their tickets all with the HOPE of being the lucky winner. ItÂ’s amazing what the possibility of winning such a large sum of money will cause people to do. The same folks who canÂ’t walk to go to the doctor or complained that they canÂ’t stand in church too long will stand up in line at a grocery store to buy lotto tickets. Why? Because they HOPE that they will win. And yet there have been countless stories of persons whose lives did not get better after winning lottery money but instead got worse. People everywhere always HOPE for what they think will cause their lives to improve. But sometimes we lose HOPE because what we HOPE for seems to be taking too long to be realized. Today I invite us all to reexamine what are we HOPING for and in so doing once again adopt an attitude which says that we will LIVE IN HOPE. ThatÂ’s todayÂ’s FF: LIVE IN HOPE!

The season of Advent is really all about our HOPE as believers. The Jews lived in HOPE that one day the Messiah would have come. Prophets foretold about the coming of the Son of God. Eventually what was HOPED for was realized with the birth of Jesus. Simeon, a devout Jew lived with the HOPE that he would not die until he had seen the Promised Messiah. And so when Mary and Joseph bought the baby Jesus to the Temple to do what was required by law, Simeon praised God that what he had so longed HOPED for was now a reality. He had LIVED IN HOPE and now he could die with a peace of mind knowing that the Messiah had come (Luke 2: 29 – 32). But the response of Simeon was not the same for all of the Jews. Jesus did not exactly fit the image of what they had HOPED for. Advent though reminds us that we today like the Jews centuries ago are called to LIVE IN HOPE. This time what we HOPE for is not the coming of the Saviour but instead His return. Our HOPE should be even more intense because we have now not only the witness of the prophets, but also that of the testimony of the Gospels, the epistles and yes the promise of Jesus himself.

So our HOPE is not the same as those who play the mega millions lottery. Our HOPE is not like those of politicians who are HOPING that they will win the popular support and get to serve in elected positions. This is not the losing sort of HOPE. Our Advent HOPE is grounded in the assurance of God’s Word. So as we continue to LIVE IN HOPE for Christ’s second coming, let us be reminded that “this HOPE will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” (Romans 5:11) If we continue to LIVE IN HOPE of Christ’s return then we dare not lose heart. Rather we LIVE with expectancy. We LIVE with faith. We LIVE trusting. We LIVE looking ahead at what will be. So as we continue this journey through Advent, let’s make sure that we LIVE IN HOPE.

Mikie Roberts (Rev)
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http://moravians.net/serendipity/index.php?/categories/1-Friday-Focus