Our Wish Is His Command

7 Dec

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” ~ Tom Bodett

We continue contemplations of hope this first week of Advent with a wonderful quote from Tom Bodett.  If we want to be truly happy, we need someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.  The Advent season is made just for us and our wish is granted in the Lord’s command to love one another as God has loved us.

We need someone to love.  This is the most basic desire.  Quite a while ago, a study was done on infants.  There was an observation made that infants in an orphanage who did not get touched regularly soon began shutting down.  They would roll to the side, stare at the walls, and some even died.  Their basic desire of love was not being met.  When they received very little care and had little chance at interaction with another person, they gave up.

We need something to do.  This is another basic desire.  No one wants to feel helpless.  They want to feel as if they are contributing.  Children will get physically aggressive in trying to position themselves to do jobs at home or in school.  They want to feel needed.  They want to feel important.  Without anything to do, they feel neglected and left out.  They become depressed and quit trying.

We need something to hope for.  We thrive when we are given something to anticipate.  From our earliest years, we hope for things.  We hope to begin school.  We hope to pass tests.  We hope to graduate.  We hope to get a job.  We hope to get a raise.  We hope to retire.  We hope for good health.  We hope for long life.  When any of our hopes are jeopardized, we are often thrown for a loop.  If some of our hopes are dashed, we a prone to giving up.  We cannot stand the thought of having a hope unfulfilled.

For generations, the Israelites hoped for the promised Savior to come.  They waited and waited.  Many generations died waiting and some began to give up hope because they felt the wait had gone on too long and that God had forgotten them.  However, God did not forget.  He sent His Son to be born as one of us to deliver all of us from sin and death.  Jesus restored our hope.  Our basic desires have been restored to us.  We have someone to love:  God.  We have something to do: proclaim the Good News.  We have something to hope for: eternal life with the one who loves us best.

FAITH ACTION:  Identify all that God has done for you and all the reasons that He has given you to hope.