Giving Dignity: Advent Day 12

At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God. (Luke 2:25–28 NLT)

Every breath we take is a gift from the Lord; there is no guarantee that we will live another day, unless, as in Simeon’s case, God reveals to you His plan for your life. However, God did not promise Simeon that he would live for a set number of days or years but rather that he would live to see the Messiah arriving to rescue Israel; even then, he was not promised he would see the Messiah fulfill His role as savior. Simeon was blessed to not only see the Messiah, but hold Him in his arms – to experience His presence in a deeply intimate way. In turn, he was able to bless Mary and Joseph (v. 34–36).

Simeon could have taken this blessing of seeing the promised Messiah as the gift that it was and gone no further with it. The Holy Spirit did not place any stipulations on His promise to reveal the Lord’s Messiah to Simeon; Simeon was under no obligation to bless Mary and Joseph in return, but because of his joy at seeing the Messiah, Simeon multiplied his blessing onto Mary and Joseph. When you receive a gift or a blessing, do you accept it for what it is and move on, or do you use it as an opportunity to multiply the blessing in the lives of others?

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