Tis The Season
Photo Credit: Steph Quernemoen
We have enjoyed the Christmas festivities, we celebrated, caught up with friends and family, and some even went on to spread Christmas cheer among the less fortunate. The true reason for the season, Christ Jesus was remembered and shared with others, and yet He is not necessarily the focus of this post. Instead I want us to focus our attention on two people, two prophets in the Bible: Simeon and Anna. They are two people who loved God and served Him, two people that witnessed the salvation of Israel, the kinsman redeemer in the form of a baby.
When the Saviour, the Messiah who was prophesised in the Old Testament was born, it was not the religious elite, nor the teachers of the law or the priests and scholars who recognised Him, it was two prophets of God who recognised eternity wrapped in flesh.
Simeon, the Bible tells us in Luke 2:25-26 NIV, said that “the Holy Spirit was on him” and that “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he has seen the Lords Messiah”. There is no record in the bible of how long Simeon waited, no timelines, no explanations of how the promise would come to pass, just faith.
Anna, who Luke describes as a prophet who “never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying” (Luke 2:37, NIV). Anna’s posture was one of active waiting, she fasted, she prayed, and she stayed in the Lords temple. And when Mary and Joseph arrived carrying Jesus into the temple, only these two individuals recognised the Messiah, the prophesied one. The bible tells us in Luke 2:30 NKJV that Simeon took what looked like any other ordinary child and declared “For my eyes have seen Your salvation”, while on the other hand, Anna, upon seeing Him “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38, NIV).
This is the uncomfortable truth of the season, not all will recognise redemption and salvation even if it was right in front of them. Faith is not always a straight path, and a promise from the Lord does not always carry instructions or come with a description, faith needs to recognise faith. Sometimes faith is decades of obedience with no visible reward, sometimes its prayers without answers, fasting without applause or receiving the desired results, believing without any tangible evidence. Even the scripture reminds us that, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV).
Simeon and Anna witnessed salvation, not because they were the religious elite, not because they were better than everyone else, but because they believed God, his faithfulness and that He always does what he says He will do.
And this is where their story becomes ours.
We too, are called children of God, not because we are perfect but because of our shared faith, this faith that sees salvation and welcomes it. This season, may we remember one thing even going into the new year, that the Christmas season is not just about the coming of our Lord, but about faith that waits long enough to recognise salvation. Faith may take time, it may require fasting and prayer, and in some instances blind trust, but it is this very faith that makes us one.
So as we say goodbye to 2025 and look forward to 2026, let us keep the faith. And this is my prayer for us: May our faith still be standing when Gods promises to us finally arrives.
TRENDING
