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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