Advent

Once, I visited someone with a seven-year-old daughter. Her father would play with her every evening after work and then ask her what gift she wanted him to bring the following day. The little girl would excitedly mention a number of things she wanted. However, day after day, the father would not bring anything home for her. When I was visiting, the father played with his daughter as usual and then asked what she wanted him to bring her. But this time, the little girl responded, “Daddy, don’t ask me that again because you never bring anything.â€

Turning to her father, I asked, “Is what she has said true?†The father admitted that it was true. To him, it was like a joke. The girl would eagerly await his return, hoping he would bring what he had promised. But the father was making promises without any intent to keep them.

This human father acted dishonestly, which is not the way God intended for us to treat each other. Sadly, in our broken world, sometimes people don’t keep their promises. At times, this is because of unforeseen circumstances. As human beings, we are limited in our understanding of events. We cannot predict accurately the twists and turns that can come with our tomorrows. At other times, promises are not kept because the promiser—although they knew they were not in a position to keep them—made promises simply to gain favor and acceptance.

But when our Heavenly Father promises us something, He always keeps that promise. God is loving and faithful and just, and we can trust Him to act according to His character in every situation. God Almighty never comes across unforeseen circumstances. He knows the end from the beginning, and He is not out to impress or gain favor from us, His own creation! And since God does not lie, we can count on Him to keep His promises. Through Jesus, He kept His promise to provide us with a Savior, and He will keep His promise to return and redeem all of creation, getting rid of sin, lies, and broken promises forever. • Charity M. Kiregyera

• Can you think of a time someone did not keep their promise? God knows what it feels like to be hurt by a broken promise (Luke 22:31-62), and He grieves our hurts with us.

• Can you think of a time you failed to keep a promise you made? No matter how many times we fail, God will keep His promise to forgive us through Jesus’s death and resurrection (1 John 1:9).

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Isa.9.2-Isa.9.7|Matt.1.18-Matt.1.25|Luke.2.8-Luke.2.20|John.1.14