A shred of hope

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

Hebrews 10:23

A shred of hope means to be holding on to a fragment of hope for a positive outcome in a situation.

In my opinion, we are entering the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the season where Christians come together to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. It’s also a time of reflection as we prepare our hearts during these four weeks of Advent leading up to His birthday.

The Advent Calendar has turned into a countdown for children where a treat is given each day, but this is a wonderful opportunity to really put the emphasis back on the reason we celebrate this holiday in the first place.

Many families have an Advent wreath which is a circle of evergreens symbolizing the everlasting life we have found in Jesus. It has four candles; the first is purple, representing hope, the second is purple, standing for faith, the third is pink, which symbolizes joy, and the fourth candle is purple, representing peace.

Hope is believing with anticipation about something happening in our future, and hope is the first candle lit. It signifies the message promised from the prophets about the coming of the Messiah. They had great expectations of the coming of the Savior, just as we hope for Him coming again. When the candle is lit, darkness no longer exists so this is a beautiful metaphor of what happens when Jesus enters our hearts because darkness is erased.

So, as we enter this holiday season full of traditions, let us all unswervingly cling to the hope that the Lord will return one day and we are His. I love the message Paul gave the church of Rome in Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Hope is the gift God has given the believer, a gift given by the Holy Spirit which cannot be refuted or dismissed.