How many times this year have you heard someone make the statement, “I’ve lost hope.” Hope is what we desire to happen. In the Old Testament hope was based on a sacrifice and a priest. An animal was brought to a priest, he made the sacrifice and you left hoping it was enough. There was no personal touch. No individual miracle. No Word of hope for your situation personally. People simply lived in faith that the sacrifice and the priest were enough. That all changed when Jesus stepped on the planet. Suddenly hope became a reality. Blind men set on the side of roads hoping Jesus might walk by. A woman with a blood issue reached out to Jesus in hope that her body might be healed, and Zacchaeus, a chief sinner, climbed a tree in hope Jesus would come to his house. And because Jesus healed and touched these, and so many others, we have hope. Hope He will do the same for us. Hope that He might answer our prayer, show up at our house or do the miraculous. We know He has healed; we believe He can heal but we become doubtful that it’s His plan for us. And so, hope grows faint. In reality, often hopes are dashed. Prayers aren’t answered and the miracle doesn’t happen. What happens to hope then? Because of Jesus, hope still holds. Why? Because our faith isn’t based just on the earthly, but the eternal. While we hope for the earthly, our real hope is in the eternal. Titus 1:2 says, “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.” Your hope? Pray like anything is possible but live for the hope of eternity. The Gift of Hope.