Your Daily Devotional for August 9, 2006

 

August 9, 2006

 

The Faith of Simeon

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

 

Luke 2:25-32

 

A story is told of an actress cooking her first Christmas dinner. After several years of marriage, she decided to try and cook for her family on Christmas day. She sat her husband and son down and said, “In a moment I am going to bring out the dinner. It may not come out exactly as you like. If it doesn’t look good, I don’t want you to say a thing. Just get up from the table, and we’ll go to the nearest restaurant and eat. A few moments later, Helen walked into the dining room with her turkey. Her husband and son were already standing with their coats and hats on!

 

Her husband and son did not have much faith in her, but today we will learn about a man whose faith in the coming Messiah changed the way he lived his life. Simeon was a godly man who was waiting for Christ’s birth before he would see death. How excited he must have been when God came to him and told him that he wouldn’t die until he saw baby Jesus! I’m sure that after a few decades of waiting, most people’s faith would have diminished, but not Simeon’s! Simeon stayed faithful to God even when others would have long since given up on God.

Our expectations control our conduct. What we expect to happen will control how we live our lives. Simeon believed with all his heart that he was going to be able to see Jesus, so he lived with expectancy in his life. He did everything he could to stay busy for God while waiting for Jesus’ birth. He never lost hope.

 

Christian, do you ever find yourself doubting what promise God has given you? Do you sometimes lose faith after waiting for a while? Simeon had to wait for literally decades, yet he never gave up hope. God is always good to come through with His promises. He will never promise you something and then not do it. Whenever you get discouraged and feel as if you’ve been waiting for God forever, remember that God not only knows what you need, but also when you need it!

 

Don’t let the devil discourage you into thinking that God has forgotten about you. The devil would love nothing better than for you to get discouraged and quit on God. Friend, God is good. Just trust in Him and rely upon His Word. Ask God to renew you faith day-by-day and just keep serving God while waiting for Him to fulfill His plan in your life.

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