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Glory2012
Dec 31, 2010 - 2:43PM
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Max Lucado : A Devotional on
Waiting for Jesus to Return
Waiting
Forwardly: A Day to Anticipate
by Max Lucado
"Now in Jerusalem there was a man named
Simeon. He was an upright and devout
man; he looked forward to Israel's
comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on
him"
(Luke 2:25 TKB, emphasis mine).
Let's take a look at Simeon, the man who
knew how to wait for the arrival of
Christ. The way he waited for the first
coming is a model for how we should wait
for the Second Coming.
"The Holy Spirit had revealed to him
that he would not die until he had seen
him-God's anointed King" (v. 26 TLB).
You've got to wonder what a message like
that would do to a person. What does it
do to you if you know you will someday
see God? We know what it did to Simeon.
He was "constantly expecting the
Messiah" (v. 25 TLB).
He was "living in expectation of the
salvation of Israel" (v. 25 PHILLIPS).
He "watched and waited for the
restoration of Israel" (v. 25 NEB).
Simeon is a man on tiptoe, wide-eyed and
watching for the one who will come to
save Israel. Studying each passing face.
Staring into the eyes of strangers. He's
looking for someone. He was
waitingforwardly. Patiently vigilant.
Calmly expectant. Eyes open. Arms
extended. Searching the crowd for the
right face, and hoping the face appears
today.
Such was the lifestyle of Simeon, and
such can be ours. Haven't we, like
Simeon, been told of the coming Christ?
Aren't we, like Simeon, heirs of a
promise? Are we not prompted by the same
Spirit? Are we not longing to see the
same face?
First, we must wait. Paul says "we are
hoping for something we do not have yet,
and we are waiting for it patiently"
(Rom. 8:25). Simeon is our model. He was
not so consumed with the "not yet" that
he ignored the "right now." Luke says
Simeon was a "good man and godly"
(2:25). Peter urges us to follow suit.
Hope of the future is not a license for
irresponsibility in the present. Let us
wait forwardly, but let us wait.
But for most of us, waiting is not our
problem. Or, maybe I should state,
waiting is our problem. We are so good
at waiting that we don't wait forwardly.
We forget to look. We are so patient
that we become complacent. We are too
content. We seldom search the skies. We
rarely run to the temple. We seldom, if
ever, allow the Holy Spirit to interrupt
our plans and lead us to worship so that
we might see Jesus.
It is to those of us who are strong in
waiting and weak in watching that our
Lord was speaking when he said, "No one
knows when that day or time will be, not
the angels in heaven, not even the Son.
Only the Father knows. . . . So always
be ready, because you don't know the day
your Lord will come. . . . The Son of
Man will come at a time you don't expect
him" (Matt. 24:36, 42, 44).
Simeon reminds us to "wait forwardly."
Patiently vigilant. But not so patient
that we lose our vigilance. Nor so
vigilant that we lose our patience.
In the end, the prayer of Simeon was
answered. "Simeon took the baby in his
arms and thanked God; 'Now, Lord, you
can let me, your servant, die in peace,
as you said'" (Luke 2:28-29).
One look into the face of Jesus, and
Simeon knew it was time to go home. And
one look into the face of our Savior,
and we will know the same.
From
When Christ Comes: The Beginning of the
Very Best
(Thomas Nelson, 1999) Max Lucado
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