Wishing, Hoping And Facts

"Be careful what you wish for – it just might come true!" is a saying most of us have grown up with. It comes with no guarantee or assurance that what we ask for is what we will get. In fact, we may get the exact opposite which can result in serious problems.

Wishing is imagining something in our minds that we want to come true – believing that our lives will be better or filled with endless happiness and joy and riches. It is wanting our lives to be more complete or problem-free or better or happier without our having to do anything or making any effort to bring about changes.

But wishing is different from hoping – especially the hope that believers have in God. We can have unflinching and unwavering hope in God because He has done everything He has ever said He would do. There is no room for any doubt in Him or any of His promises. The fulfillment of His promises is well documented and are a testimony to the fact that God is faithful and can be trusted to keep His Word.

God's faithfulness, the psalmist reminds us, is so predictable that it has become "a law in Israel." And this testimony of God's faithfulness is to be passed on by fathers to their children so they put their hope in God and "never forget His deeds."

God wants fathers to teach their children that hope does not come from politicians or policies. Nor does He want fathers to teach their children that they are to place their hope in acquiring wealth or worldly goods. And He does not want fathers to teach their children to place their hope in the knowledge or skills or talents they possess. God wants everyone - fathers, mothers, and children to place their hope in Him.

Prayer:  We pray, Lord that fathers (and mothers) will realize their responsibility to raise their children to hope only in You and be faithful and obedient. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today:  So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Psalm 78:6

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