We may not always give this a lot of thought, but the benefits of evaluating what we are hoping for is great. Hope is a big word. A powerful word. But...it is more than a word. Hope itself is powerful. It directs our lives more than we often realize. What we place our hope in has the power to determine the path(s) we take.

It's interesting to think of hope like an investment: what we place our hope in determines the return we get, i.e. as in finances, invest in a proven commodity or take a gamble on an unproven deal, the result is obvious...in retrospect. That's why it's always good to evaluate carefully where we invest our dollars...and our hope.

It's also interesting to think about what the Bible tells us about hope. For instance, in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the substance of (or being sure of) what we hope for." So, hope precedes faith. We actually can't have faith without hope. So again, hope is powerful.

Hope is also resilient. We've gone through a lot as a nation, a world, and as individuals, over the past few years. It's real to us because we've lived it. But actually, that is what the condition has been from the beginning of time, and is what it was like when Jesus Christ was born...crisis, loss, corruption, wars, etc. That is why the Christmas message of hope has resounded throughout the ages and continues to resound today.

And for the record...Jesus' birth is not a fable or fairy tale, or just a bible story, but is in fact proven history, as recorded by historians of His day, like Josephus and Tacitus. Not only that, of the over 330 Old Testament prophecies regarding a coming Messiah, Jesus fulfilled all of them...except for the ones regarding His 2nd coming!

Mathematicians and theological scholars have estimated that the chance of one person fulfilling even 60 of the 330+ prophecies would be 1 in 1 & 157 zeros - in other words 1, and 157 zeros following that! Pretty good record! Pretty good place to invest your hope.

And there's no better time than now to invest your hope in the safest, surest place - in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Those who have already done so testify of the 'prosperous' return they've received.

Happy and 'prosperous' New Year!