How do we keep HOPE alive all year round? Hope is a
little word, but it’s a word that means so much! If we don’t
have hope, what do we have? Not much, really. The word
hope is mentioned in the Bible about 129 times, depending
on what version you are looking at. But we must remember
we can’t have hope without faith. They go together like pea-
nut butter and jelly. And the word faith is in the Bible 336
times. Faith is what keeps hope alive.

In our Gospel of Matthew 4:18-22, As Jesus was walking
beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into
the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus
said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once,
they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there,
He saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and his
brother John. They were in a boat with their father, Zebe-
dee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediate-
ly they left the boat and their father and followed Him.
Why would Peter, Andrew, James, and John follow Jesus
if they didn’t know anything about Him? That’s what it
sounds like in Matthew, but in Luke, who covers this en-
counter more thoroughly in Luke 5, Jesus asked Peter to use
his boat to stand in to preach. The water would help magnify
His voice so He wouldn’t have to yell to so many people, but
it also gave these fishermen a chance to hear Jesus speak.
His sermon gave them hope and an understanding of the
Word of God no one had shared before.

How did God take twelve men, whom Jesus recruited to
share the Gospel, to now having 2.2 billion Christians in the
world today? Only God can do that. It was never more prev-
alent than just a couple of weeks ago at a football game in
Cincinnati when a Buffalo Bills player, Damar Hamlin, suf-
fered a cardiac arrest on the field after a play. That stadium
became the largest prayer service ever held, with not only a
stadium full of fans praying, but through television during
prime-time football, many were praying for this young man
to live. That’s faith keeping hope alive. Through God’s
grace, Damar is doing better, and through the prayers of so
many, God is restoring health back into him. Again, only
God can do that.

It says in Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the
Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. As long as we keep our
faith alive in God, He is our hope. We can do that today
when we keep Faith, Hope, and Love in our hearts all year
round. Jeremiah 17:7 says, Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Why should we keep hope alive in our hearts? Five reasons that
I find,

5. We have eternal life awaiting us.
4. We are created for God’s purpose.
3. God will never love us any more than He does at this moment.
2. We have the Holy Spirit inside us to guide us.
1. We are completely forgiven for our sins because Jesus died on
the cross for us.

I heard this the other day and thought it was so pro-
found. “A lawn mower can’t fix itself, but a broken crayon
can still color.” We may be broken in many ways, but we
can still color hope into our lives and others by keeping our
faith strong in the Lord. Which crayon are you choosing to
use today?