I love Christmas eve as much as Christmas day. I think part of it is the anticipation of celebrating the birth of Jesus. To anticipate an event is to look forward to it and in a positive sense it’s an expectation of hope. The biblical concept of hope captures the idea of a positive anticipation. We look forward to Christmas and the hope of peace on earth and good will toward men. As you may imagine the word hope occurs most frequently in the longest book of the Bible, the book of Psalms. But the second most frequent usage in the Old Testament is the book of Job. Who would have guessed the book of Job? With all of the sorrow Job faced he was able to declare, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Are you facing difficult days? Does it seem like others are experiencing the happiness of Christmas but you feel like you’re on the sidelines? May you experience a joyful anticipation, a heavenly hope that the God of hope may fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!