and it begins

Opening Prayer: Thank you, O Lord, for your promise.  Thank you that you will never leave us all alone but will come to redeem us, just as you said you would.  Help us to keep a lookout for that coming, for the sprouting of that righteous Branch, in the days and weeks ahead.

Scripture: Jeremiah 33:17-19

Journal: What is your deepest hope for the season ahead?  Why?

Reflection: “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.  In those days and at the right time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will live in safety.  This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” (Jeremiah 33:17)

The days are coming.  Indeed, they are coming, just as they did for the ones who first received these words of Jeremiah’s prophecy.  Just as they did for those who were waiting and watching for the Holy One, The Lord Our Righteousness, to come to earth.

Once again, that season of hope and expectation is upon us.  The season when we receive the gracious promise once again and look forward to how it will be fulfilled in the days and weeks ahead.  The season when we look forward to God’s arrival, both among us and within us, and make time and space for that arrival to happen.

What is your deepest hope for the season ahead?  How are you longing for the Righteous Branch to sprout in your life and in our world?  How are you longing for the day of hope and life and love and peace and rest to come?

Pray

Closing Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus!