Our hope is in Christ. Our hope is Christ. This is the early message of Christmas. Hope is the first gift of faith. We live in a world that squashes hope at every turn.

In our land of liberty, we have laws that remind us of the things that we cannot do. In school we rise to the level at which we cannot succeed--then  must try again and again and again until we do succeed. But, guess what! We have to move up to the next level, which must be tried again and again and again.

On our jobs, we are rarely brought into the office for the wonderful, matchless work we have done. Instead we are "called on the carpet" for the time we didn't get it right. Even in church we seem to be facing the struggle of our sinful nature, having our shortcomings constantly brought to the surface for us to re-examine and mourn over.

That's what makes faith in Christ so important. Because of the hopefulness, the hope, that is found just there. Perhaps this is tone of the reasons that Christmas and Advent are such a highlight in my own life: the constant reminder of Hope that is in Christ Jesus.