It’s still the Christmas season, a good time to think about a man who gets a few verses of coverage: Simeon.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2.25 – 32, ESV)
He goes on to give a brief prophecy. (Luke 2.34, 35)
Simeon is the subject of the first blog I wrote when I decided to blog every day, January 6, 2019. I reprise that blog now (with minor revisions).
“My spiritual life isn’t what it should be.” My friend had just written to ask if he might have a special gift for prayer, but then he quickly undermined it with the old standard, “I can’t be called to great things…my spiritual life isn’t what it should be.” And the answer to that is:
So what? Do the next right thing.
Paul said in Philippians 3, “Forgetting those things which are behind…”
I was just reading about Simeon in Luke 2, and his spiritual life was what it should be! The text says he was:
- Righteous and devout
- In touch with the Holy Spirit
- A believer in the imminent appearing of “The Consolation of Israel”
A wonderful list. HOWEVER, if he doesn’t respond to the Spirit THAT DAY and go to the temple, he misses Jesus. What if he had been in the middle of doing something important? Or unimportant for that matter. What if he thought, “I’ve been a good guy for a really long time, isn’t it OK if I take a day off?”
Simeon’s responsibility, my friend’s responsibility, your and my responsibility is to do the next right thing: pray, spend time in the Word, meet a neighbor’s need, encourage someone, write the blog(!), serve your spouse,…. My friend Fisher DeBerry, former coach of the Air Force Academy Football team, had a sign in his office: “You’re only as good as your last play.”
Do the next right thing. The alleged quality of your past spiritual life, good or bad, is irrelevant.