Anna and Simeon • Devotion 2

Faithfulness
Jill Osmon

Having a deep, abiding faithfulness to God and His Word is what we should pursue. All over the Bible, we see examples of faithfulness but one story is hidden, like a little gem that I think we miss when we think about the story of Jesus’ birth. Luke specifically highlights two people, Simeon and Anna, and if you do not really pay attention, you can miss the specialness of their enduring faithfulness to God.

Simeon and Anna devoted their lives to learning, worshiping, and serving God. They were living in anticipation of Jesus’ birth. I love what Bob Deffinbaugh said, “Their faithfulness in looking for and hastening the coming of the Lord is indeed a rebuke and an encouragement to every Christian. Their goals and priorities and their persistent practice of righteousness are quite frankly in direct opposition to what our culture advocates.”

So what does he mean when he says it is in direct opposition to what our culture advocates? Our world has created this idea that we live for this moment right now. We live for our happiness (not the God-given joy that comes when living for Him), and if we do that our lives will be full and meaningful. What the world offers is anything but fulfilling or meaningful. Simeon and Anna’s lives show that when our life is lived in anticipation of God’s return, we live differently. As Christians, our lives should be defined by our pursuit of proclaiming the Gospel to every person and community we can reach. Our lives should look markedly different than unbelievers because we know that one day Jesus will return; and upon His return, we will be judged by our decision of accepting or rejecting the Gospel.

When Simeon saw the baby Jesus, he knew that the Messiah had come. The Bible describes Simeon as righteous and devout, and that he was promised he would see Jesus before he died. Can you imagine the complete and utter joy he experienced when he realized the Messiah had come in the flesh? His whole life was defined by waiting for the Messiah. He was righteous and devout and the anticipation helped him pattern his life to the glory of God.

Anna, in the same sense, had dedicated her life to worshiping and learning about God. When she saw Jesus immediately “she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

So what can we take away from this as we celebrate Jesus’ birth this Christmas season? We cannot forget. We cannot forget that Jesus will return one day and those that know Him and have accepted Him as their Savior will be with Him for eternity; but those who have rejected Him will be removed from Him forever. We need to dig deep into our faith as Simeon and Anna did. We too should learn, worship, wait, and take the news to every person and every community. When Jesus does return, it is important that everyone will recognize Him because they know and believe the Good News.

Our goals, priorities, and our persistent practice of righteousness should point everyone we know to Jesus. Only then will we be fulfilled with a meaningful life.