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(Presented by Lisa Bishop)
Twenty-five years ago there was a marketing campaign called “Got Milk?” Remember that? Now you may not be old enough to remember it, but it was a campaign to get people to drink more milk.
You would see pictures of celebrities with big smiles on their faces along with a very pronounced milk mustache making it obvious that they had been drinking the white dairy drink.
The Got Milk? Campaign showed consumers what could happen if they ever ran out of milk: everything from cookies to cereal to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches would be ruined without it.
When I think of that catchy and memorable slogan (that I recall 25 years later!), I am inclined to change it to, “Got Hope?”
Running out of milk is one thing—it can make your cereal dry and boring but don’t run out of hope. Hope is as necessary to life as the air we breathe. It’s what sustains us and keeps us alive.
Hope never runs out because Jesus is constant. He never fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. But if we are not careful, mindful and intentional about focusing our hope in Jesus we will run out.
And I just want to clarify something. When we have hope we are not saying we will avoid pain, suffering and loss in our lives. When we’ve “Got Hope” it does not mean we’ll never be disappointed. Hope and disappointment, hope and suffering can coexist. In fact, for followers of Jesus they do coexist because Jesus is our hope and we do not put hope in anything else. Not a pain free life or a perfect marriage.
Hope, Jesus, keeps us going through painful experiences and fear of what the future may hold.
Hope is not simply optimism. It is assurance—trust, faith, and belief in the promises of God. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
When you are confronted with the questions, Got Hope?, respond with a resounding Yes! I have Jesus and he is my living hope.
When people see you living with hope, especially when life is chaotic and unpredictable (kind of like the last two years) we point to Jesus when we respond with faith, with peace, with hope.
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