Read: Luke 2:22-40
Devotional:
Each Christmas, a different set of characters stands out to me, often based on my emotions and experiences from that year. Perhaps you can relate. There are years of abundance and joy, when you feel like the shepherds, ready to share the good news with others. And then there are years of waiting, discouragement, and loneliness. In today’s passage, Simeon and Anna experience the fulfillment of long anticipated promises, though they also provide solace and company in times of sorrow or impatience.
From the start, we learn that Simeon and Anna are both people who have an intimate relationship with God. Simeon has opened his heart and mind to being moved by the Holy Spirit while Anna, being a prophetess, is also used by the Spirit to speak God’s truth. What makes their faith remarkable is the way they’ve grown while experiencing immense trials and disappointments.
I am deeply comforted by these characters, particularly in how they must’ve stood out from the people around them. Simeon must have sounded crazy by being so firm in his belief that he would not die before meeting Jesus, the Messiah. He likely was laughed at by others, especially in religious circles, and made to feel like he didn’t belong. Meanwhile Anna experienced heartbreak right at the point when her life should’ve been at its peak. This led her to spend the rest of her life widowed, likely with many moments of wondering and loneliness.
Though they may have wanted a more “normal” life at points, they embraced the path God had for them, through which they were filled by the Holy Spirit and blessed with remarkable gifts that opened their eyes to who Jesus was before many of the more popular and scholarly religious leaders. Their faithfulness to God is admirable, a reminder for us to trust God and focus on Him rather than others who bring us down or treat us poorly.
What I love most, though, is witnessing God’s faithfulness through this passage. The entire world had waited a long time for the promise of Jesus to be fulfilled, the only possibility for us to have complete connection and access to God and to be with Him forever. Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection is the most profound testament to God’s faithfulness and love for His people. And when we think about it as such a vast, worldly event, it can feel so far away despite being so incredible.
But when we zoom in on God’s faithfulness to Simeon and Anna, people He specifically chose and remained close to as they experienced hardship and disappointment, it’s so evident that God is as much a personal God as He is soveriegn over everything.
God cares about the burdens on your heart. He didn’t only send Jesus for everyone else — He sent Jesus for you. He believed that His love for you was sacred enough to sacrifice His own Son to pay the price you owed simply by being human so that He could love you forever and ever.
No matter how you feel this Christmas, whether you are isolated or surrounded by loved ones, take the time to remember and thank God for His love. Realize that you are worth dying for! Being in relationship with you matters immensely to God. He doesn’t need you and He doesn’t need me, but He so desperately wants us because He created us and delights in us. Nothing you do will ever change how much God loves you.
We can’t earn this love or sacrifice, but we can honor this gift by spending time with God and making the most of this incredible opportunity to be with Him. After all, that’s what the ultimate meaning of Christmas is, right? God is with us. And that news is worth getting excited about!
Questions:
- When’s the last time you really thought about how much God wants to be in relationship with you?
- Do you want to be in relationship with Him?
- How can you build more time in your life to be with Him this year?
- How do you hope to grow in your faith through your relationship with Jesus?
- Thank God for His grace and faithfulness, remembering all He has done in your life, and trusting all that’s to come.
Sing:
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