Something to Think About - 6

Saturday, December 11th, 2010
CELEBRATE A SPIRIT-FILLED HOLIDAY.
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 upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God (Luke 2:25–28).
It is hard to hold a baby and not wonder at the enormity of potential in such a small body. Simeon didn’t have to wonder about the baby he held—God had already spoken to him of this baby’s future through the Holy Spirit. Simeon held the “consolation of Israel” and knew the Holy Spirit was upon the baby Jesus.
It is common at this time of year to see Jesus only as the baby in the manger, reserving other thoughts of him for the rest of the year. When Simeon saw the baby, he saw the Savior he had been promised. How did he know? The Holy Spirit told him. Looking back at the passage, Jesus is not the central figure, nor is Simeon. The reason Simeon understood the significance of that moment in the temple was because the Holy Spirit led him to that place and gave him that understanding.
Simeon was righteous and devout. He was righteous because he was “right with God.” His relationship with God was not clouded with on-going sins; his habits and behaviors were in line with God’s will. Simeon was “devout,” which means he had set aside his life for service to God. Victor Raymond Edman, the fourth president of Wheaton College said, “The Spirit-filled life is no mystery revealed to a select few, no goal difficult of attainment. To trust and obey is the substance of the whole matter.” Simeon was Spirit-filled because he was righteous and devout.
Every day, God provides opportunities for his children to be his physical Presence in this world. That is why God gave Christians his Holy Spirit. Look back at Edman’s quote. You can choose to be Spirit-filled, but you must choose to trust and obey. Will you make that choice today? “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). This verse does not use “witness” as a verb. In Acts 1:8 God was describing what a Spirit-filled person becomes. May we be what we were gifted by the Holy Spirit to be. And may we, like Simeon, be “righteous and devout.”

By Janet Denison
The Center for Informed Faith

http://www.godissues.org/pdf/Advent_Devotional_2010.pdf