Diaries of Hope

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man…in this way death spread to all people…But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.” Romans 5:12, 15

I cannot believe it is December, and it couldn’t have come quickly enough! What a year and I’m sure you have the same sentiments. December always snugly wraps me in a garment of sweet memories. Memories of being a wide-eyed little girl anticipating Santa Clause. I can still remember my first diary, my little personal ‘hope chest’ with a key to protect its secret contents. My entries for December always included what I ‘hoped’ I would get for Christmas… a new bike…a new doll…a new pair of shoes. I would ‘hope’ that my stocking would have lots of candy including peppermint sticks…new pencils (yes, I was weird!) …and various other treats. I would hope I had been good enough…sweet enough…thoughtful enough. All these ‘hopes’ were points of preferences…wishes…longings with no guarantee of receiving. But with HOPE being our companion during the first week of Advent, we stand firm on HOPE that delivers more than preferences and wishes. Our HOPE stands on the guarantee of the cross and the empty grave.

Through Adam we became past sinners, but through Christ we became future saints because our grace and God’s mercy wasn’t based on anything humanity did, but everything Christ Jesus did for us. He obeyed God and walked out a surrendered life of hardship, scorn, torture and even death. While sin entered our world by one act of mankind, mercy entered our lives through one sacrifice of an unblemished Lamb.

We remember this morning that HOPE is not some wish written in our heart’s diary as a child would write, but HOPE is a truth from God’s unbreakable promise. We have HOPE that no sin is too great for God’s mercy to cover, and no threat is too formidable to separate us from the love of God. So, on this first day of December we record on the pages of our heart the HOPE we have in one Savior's act of ultimate obedience and sacrifice. That is the guaranteed HOPE that is our companion on our journey home.