Tuesday, December 21, 2010
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ezekiel 19-21 and James 5
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Ezekiel 19-21 and James 5
SCRIPTURE READING
Luke 2:25-26 (NIV); Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
Again, the Spirit was powerfully coming upon individuals surrounding the birth of Christ. These were signs to the people as the words spoken by these prophets would prove to be true before the eyes of all Israel. Simeon had spent his lifetime waiting for the “consolation of Israel” – the Comforter to come. It was no accident that Simeon was born in the time and place that he was! We do not know when the Holy Spirit had promised him he would see the Messiah, but we are told of his righteousness. Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon clung to the promise of God and walked blamelessly in the waiting.
As much as we avert silence, our society loathes waiting just as much. Instant gratification is the demand and delight of our generation. We will never learn patience in the grocery line or with the phone company if we do not learn it first in the inner places. Good fruit is produced from a good heart, and the alternative is true for the wicked. The Messiah came as a CHILD, something Simeon likely would have missed had he not been waiting in patient expectation. Because of His patience, he could live rightly and earnestly pursue the Lord in the waiting.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. How do you need to grow in this area of patience that Simeon seemed to have mastered so well? Confess areas of impatience in your life.
2. What is something that God is telling you to wait for right now? Or, where do you sense you need to wait for God to act? How easy/difficult is this for you and why?
3. Meditate on Psalm 40:1-5
a. What do you think it means to truly wait upon the Lord?
b. What does the Spirit say to you through this passage?
c. Speak this passage in prayer and praise to God.
d. Ask the Holy Spirit who you know who needs to hear these words and their message today. How can you encourage them?
