Day 1  December 1

Today is the first day of advent, the official kickoff to the Christmas season, although, the stores have been getting ready since summer…they seem to take preparation for Christmas a little more serious than the rest of us.  I will confess, I am actually writing this on November 18th, I’ve just returned from a missions trip to India to find my Christmas tree set up, snow on the ground, Bing Crosby singing white Christmas yet my heart is far from a reflective Christmas mood.  I’m going from curry to candy-canes and my mind cannot keep up.  So, I am endeavouring to write 24 reflections of advent as a way to push myself into some corners of Christmas I often neglect or simply disregard.  I am tempted to run the same list as last year:  Christmas gift panic, family gathering (panic!), food to prep…nostalgia to be met and my children to be given an unforgettable season of joy and bliss.  There’s a lot of pressure isn't there? I could do all that 'stuff' and still miss the supernatural event that Christmas really is all about.  So for these next four weeks, I invite you to join me on this little journey, I promise the writings won’t be long, they will be fairly candid and personal, and some will be borrowed from others…but I will be committed to reflecting on what the Bible is saying, where it is pointing and perhaps (with God’s help), will see how hope, joy, peace, and love are summed up in the baby in the manger 2000 years ago.

Hope (Part I):

Psalm 33:18-21(ESV)
The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.

https://www.facebook.com/elmwoodmbchurch/The war horse in the ancient military would be like having the biggest tank available, it was intimidating and powerful…terrifying the enemy and giving you a distinct advantage in a battle.  But according to the Psalm it is a false hope, it cannot rescue, obviously the Psalmist is thinking of something other than a military battle, something much greater that we need hope for.  Hope is a central part of the advent season—more than hoping for presents of some sort, it is a hope for God to restore peace and life to a violent dark world.  Hope that our children will inherit a future full of life and opportunity.  But the Psalmist gives us something greater than these to hope for:  that our hearts would be glad in Him, that our souls would know that God is our help and shield, and that we would again feel and know the power of God’s steadfast love…as we trust in his holy name.  Hope comes swaddled in the little town of Bethlehem, hope for weary heavy laden souls (Matthew 11:28).