Isaiah 11:1-10
“Two thousand years, and still we wait.” Hope. Hope, this mysterious, often difficult to describe ‘thing’ is what gives us a reason to continue in life, whether just working through a difficult time, or seeking meaning in life. Christmas brings hope in the form of a baby, but it is really in the resurrection, the rebirth, and in our salvation, because of Christ, that we have tangible hope.
You may have seen a new branch of a tree sprouting from the stump of some species. New life, from something that seems dead. Chainsaw artists are able to take old, dead stumps and carve them into amazing works of art from animals to furniture and even signs. Hope is a bit like that. When things seem out of sort, at their end, sometimes something amazingly new springs up surprising us. Hope. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). We can have faith because Jesus came, lived, died, and was raised from the dead.
“Charity begins at home but should not end there.” Thomas Fuller
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