Devotional Reading — Luke 2:25-32
“My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations.”—Luke 2:30-31
In our devotional passage we find Simeon was working in the temple, waiting for God to act. Then one day the Spirit of God moved him and he saw the child, Jesus in the temple. At that moment, He understood that through this child, our Father would do everything He had promised in His Word. Simeon showed an absolute trust in God. I’m quite sure that you and I would not have been able to see the Vision manifested in the arms of Mary on that day. You see the concerns that Simeon had been petitioning heaven for were not instantly addressed in that moment. Jerusalem was still occupied by the Romans, and the religious leaders of Israel still had their political agendas. They were not concerned about the disadvantaged people as they were instructed to do in our Father’s Word, so how was it possible that Simeon could say at that moment he had seen salvation? When Simeon looked to the past, God had already performed amazing miracles and changed the situation of His people immediately. It is much of the same now, when we pray for our Father to act, we are often looking for instant, noticeable changes that cannot be refuted. But on that day in the temple, when Simeon laid his eyes on the Messiah, the situation did not immediately change; instead the presence of the Messiah transformed Simeon. The Set Apart Spirit opened the eyes of a man who had been waiting for fulfillment. He was able to praise God for salvation because he caught the Vision of the Almighty, and once he caught the Vision, the shalom that comes from knowing that God is there and has already done what He has promised — this gift was greater than any changed situation.
Meditation Prayer
Father, open my eyes to see your salvation today so that I may be encouraged as I wait for your Vision to be fulfilled on earth as it is already done in heaven — in Jesus, Amen.
Contributed by: Pastor Yolanda Douthit