When Simeon held the infant Christ.

 

Christian Greetings Beloved, 

Simeon stands in the temple courts, a man whose soul has been tuned to the voice of God. He has waited long, not in idle anticipation but in a holy readiness, his eyes ever watching for the moment when the promise would be fulfilled. And now, in the quiet of a morning like any other, he sees them—an unassuming couple, carrying a child. The world passes by this scene with indifference, but Simeon, moved by the Spirit, recognizes what others cannot. He sees the answer to every longing, the fulfillment of the covenant, cradled in a pair of human arms.

What stirs me most about this moment is not merely Simeon's patience but his spiritual sensitivity. The old man had spent his years waiting, but not as one who waits passively. He was alive to God, fully engaged in the divine promise, and his heart was set on what others had long forgotten or failed to see. Simeon’s faith was not in the temple rituals themselves, nor in the visible structures of religion, but in the living God who speaks and fulfills His word. He was able to discern the eternal in the ordinary—a baby, a mother, a father—because his soul had been molded by intimacy with God.

And this, Beloved, is the challenge before us. How often do we miss the presence of God because we are looking for Him in the grand and the spectacular, when He comes in humility, in smallness? Simeon saw what others missed because his heart was in tune with heaven. The world is cluttered with distractions, with voices clamoring for our attention, but the Spirit speaks in a still, small voice to those who are quiet enough, waiting enough, to hear Him.

When Simeon held the infant Christ in his arms, he declared, "Now let Your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation." This was not merely the conclusion of his personal journey but the declaration of God's faithful intervention in history. Simeon saw, in that tiny child, the salvation of Israel, the light to the Gentiles, and the glory of God made flesh. His soul could now rest, not because his life had been easy or without pain, but because he had seen with his own eyes the faithfulness of God.

Brothers and sisters, may we learn from Simeon’s holy waiting. May our souls be so fixed on Christ that we are not swayed by the world’s distractions, nor disheartened by the long silence of waiting. For in the end, it is those who watch and wait, those who seek the face of God in the quiet and the hidden places, who will see His salvation. And when we do, we too will know a peace that surpasses all understanding—a peace that comes not from this world but from having glimpsed the glory of God’s eternal plan.