I have had people come alongside me in my life that blessed and mentored me without fully knowing that they were doing it.  I praise God for them even now because I know He sent them at just the right time.  These men and women who spoke wisdom into my life were tenaciously so close to God they could obviously hear His voice of His Holy Spirit.  They lived their lives eagerly looking forward to obeying what God said no matter what was happening around them!  Their faith and trust are unshakable—consistently proven to be so through their behaviors. 

These God-people have a devoted, unrelenting love for God which drives their quick obedience to God in their daily lives.  I enjoyed those in my past and now enjoy talking with those presently because our conversations were filled with love and truth.  Their observed demeanor and behaviors were/are inviting as they compel me and others to be like Jesus, not them, all because of God’s love that flowed freely from their hearts, minds, and souls. 

“God-people” have a special wisdom no one else can come close to having.  Being close to God is being “in the know” of who God is and how He loves—with complete trust in His promises to help us and to save us.  They are not perfect—but they know they are perfectly forgiven.  These people are who I want to be when I grow up.

Luke 2, The Message

Blessings

²¹ When the eighth day arrived, the day of circumcision, the child was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived.

^22-24 Then when the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in God’s Law: “Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God,” and also to sacrifice the “pair of doves or two young pigeons” prescribed in God’s Law.

^25-32 In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:

God, you can now release your servant;
    release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
    it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
    and of glory for your people Israel.

^33-35 Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,

This child marks both the failure and
    the recovery of many in Israel,
A figure misunderstood and contradicted—
    the pain of a sword-thrust through you—
But the rejection will force honesty,
    as God reveals who they really are.

^36-38 Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and a widow for eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers. At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.

^39-40 When they finished everything required by God in the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

It is time for Joseph and Mary to obey the Jewish tradition of circumcising their male infant after 8 days of birth—according to The Law.  Joseph and Mary’s devout obedience to God, despite their circumstances, is their way of life.  This requires another trip walking or on the bony back of a beast, with an infant, as they travel from Bethlehem, the place of Jesus’ birth, to Jerusalem for the ceremonial dedication.

God gives them the gift of two “God-persons” who are fully devoted to God and have relied on Him with “prayerful expectancy” of the coming Messiah—God’s Son.  The time has arrived and God will not allow Simeon and Anna to miss it!  Don’t you love this?!  Because they are led by God’s Spirit there is no chance of missing what God has done! They are “in the know” because they know God!  Simeon recognizes Jesus as Messiah immediately—without question!  Anna, widowed young, spent her life praying and fasting for this moment right here—and God obliged and blessed her with seeing the fulfillment of The Promise.  Wow!

Simeon and Anna are great examples of how faithful obedience to God measures our pure love for God.  So, I prayerfully ask myself today, based on what I have learned from this passage:

Is my relationship with God as close as it could be? 

Do I hear from God with quick obedience because of my love for God? 

And is my love for God and others seriously a way of life that attracts others seeking a Savior?

Do I love without expecting anything in return from others because the love of God thorough Jesus is more than enough for me?

God provided Simeon and Anna as a gift to Joseph and Mary that day as “family” in the ceremony of dedication and as verification once more of who Jesus really is.  Simeon and Anna provided exactly what this young couple needed—a word from God. 

God blessed Simeon and Anna with a glimpse of the Savior, the Messiah who they had prayerfully expected and waited to see.  God is good—so, so good. 

Lord,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the gospel of Luke who spoke to the depths of my heart today! Thank you for giving us examples of rock-solid faith through the lives of “God-people” who live fully for you both then and now.  Thank you for loving us the way you do.  Thank you for the Godly mentors of my past and present.  Help me to pass on what I have learned about You to others.  That’s how you work—it’s how we “roll”.

In Jesus Name, Amen