God's Promises Are Real

Jeremiah 33:14-18

As we walk through this Advent season, these words ring true:

The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. (vs. 14)

And what was that promise?  Jeremiah spells it out as God has proclaimed in verses 15 and 16:

In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.  This is the name by which it will be called:  The Lord, Our Righteousness.  

In Jeremiah's day, the Jewish nation lay in ruins.  Pagan leaders ruled.  Jews were scattered.  They had no home.  But Jeremiah the prophet knows that this will not last forever.  God always keeps his promises; perhaps not as quickly as we want him to, but he always delivers.

Dear friends, God is faithful and God is true.  He will bring comfort and hope to his people.  As we wait in the Advent season for the baby to be born, we marvel at his grace and his love for us.  One of my favorite writers, Tim Keller, puts it well:

Christmas is telling you that you couldn't get to heaven on your own.  God had to come to you.  

So kneel at the manger.  Thank him for sending his son.  Ask him to continue to give you hope, even in the midst of fear, of darkness, of doubt.  He is the Lord, Our righteousness.

Amen.