All tagged hope

The Old and New Covenants are not just two different covenants or commitments between God and His people, they are two different relationships.

What separates them is the motivations they are based on. The first—the Old—acceptance was based on obedience to the Law of Moses. The second—the New—acceptance by God is based on God's grace given to us through Jesus.

A common hook used for selling something is to offer a guarantee. Of course, the hook might come with some catches like time limits or other restrictions. It's the "money-back" guarantees that are most appealing.

You can also buy extended warranties and some credit cards even offer warranties. But remember, guarantees or warranties are only as good the one who issues it, whether it's a person or a company. Are they trustworthy? Will they stay in business?

Another limitation is whatever is being guaranteed. Any item or service, even a life insurance policy is limited because it's temporary. A life insurance policy is only in force while a person is alive and pays out when they die.

But what about a human soul? It's contained within a physical body but it exists beyond physical life. What kind of guarantee is there for life after death and eternity, or is there any? Again, it depends on who issues the guarantee.

How can we know if a promise is trustworthy? People make promises that are often more like intentions than true promises. We might "promise" to call someone or pray for them later, but we say promise as more of an assurance of our intention than a true commitment.

Politicians, sales people, and even entrepreneurs make lots of promises, but if we're wise, we only accept these promises with a grain of salt. There always seems to be a loophole, excuse, or contingency that gives them a way out of making good on their promises.

A promise is only as good as the person who makes it. Even then, it's only reliable if the person has the capacity or power to keep their promise.

It is easy to lose focus and perspective when we get absorbed in one line of thought. Absorbed in a cause, a challenge, a debate, or an impassioned view of an issue. When you see the word government what comes to mind?

Are you concerned about a new presidential administration or the state of our nation? How about wars and refugees? Violence seems to pop up all over the world and our nation is not immune to it. Concerns about the economy, international trade, and jobs, international unrest, immigration, freedoms and rights all come to mind. 

But all of these are issues and concerns of human government. As you read this on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, you might be wondering, "What kind of Christmas message is this?!" "How about something uplifting and hopeful?" Exactly my point!