Wednesday, December 18, 2019
The Wonder of
What God Has Done Through His Son:
An Advent Devotional Guide
. . .Now, Lord,
thou dost let thy bond-servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for my
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou has prepared in the presence of all
peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people
Israel.
Luke 2:29-32
If there is any story in the early life of Jesus that can really touch
our hearts, it is this one! Old Simeon had been promised by God that before he
died, he would see the Messiah! And he believed that so strongly, that he went
regularly with expectation to the temple to wait for him. Now that is faith!
One day as he waited there, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple
to dedicate him to God (a wonderful story within itself that we could easily
focus on). The Holy Spirit revealed to Simeon that this tiny baby was the
Messiah! So he took the infant in his arms, the Scripture says. In other words,
he held God in the cradle of his arms and looked into the infant eyes of God! I
cannot imagine the joy he must have felt! But his words give us a hint.
“Now, God, let me die!” This man calls himself a bond-servant of God.
That means he had been a slave but had been granted his freedom, yet he had had
an awl, a ring, put in his ear to indicate to the world that he chose to remain
a slave, only this time a slave to God! He had waited and waited, with great
expectation, and new he is please to die in peace.
Later in an epistle, Paul will tell us that faith is “substance.” Simeon
has seen the “substance” of his faith, and that is what he has been living for!
This same baby that he holds will later promise “peace that passes
understanding.” Simeon knows that peace.
Father, Thank you for this beautiful
story of realized faith! Help us to be as committed to your promises that we
cannot wait to see as was Simeon. Amen
The Wonder of What God Has Done Through His
Son:
An
Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for First United Methodist Church of Homosassa, Florida
Winter 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator
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