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How Low Can You Go?

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

How low can you go?  Some people seem to have to go all the way to the bottom before they are willing to look up.  That sure seems to be the case with Jonah.  He ran from God and headed down, down, down.  Eventually he found himself at the lowest point possible.  At this point he began to cry to the Lord for help.  One thing we learn for sure from Jonah is that you are never too low or never in too deep for God to hear you call.

As Jonah was sinking to the bottom, he cried out to the Lord.  Scripture records, “From the depth of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry” (Jonah 2:2).  Jonah literally felt like he was a dead man.  His life was flashing before his eyes, and he felt no hope.  The word grave can also be translated as “hell.”  He felt like he was in a living hell – separated from God and left for dead.  Have you ever felt that way?  Have you ever been in such a place of hopelessness?

Jonah also said of God, “You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me… I have said, ‘ I have been banished from your sight.’” (Jonah 2:3,4).  Jonah not only feels like he is dying in hell, but he feels it is a hell he can never return from.  The picture of the waves and currents swirling about him are a picture of Jonah being overwhelmed by his circumstances.  He had sunk so low that he felt God could no longer see him or save him.

It was from the depths of the grave that Jonah called for help and God listened to his cry.  In other words, he is saying, “at the place where I felt completely cut off from God with nothing to give, and nothing to contribute, I cried out to the Lord and he heard me.  At the place where I thought I was beyond help, I cried out to God and he saved me.

This may be an encouraging word for some of you.  Some of you may feel like you are in your own personal hell.  Perhaps you think God cannot help you or save you.  Maybe you feel like your marriage is in the grave, or you are living in the hell of addiction, or the depths of depression, or the pit of financial bondage.

Jonah cried to God from the depths of the grave.  And God heard his cry.  When he had no place to turn, He called upon God and the Lord answered him from the deepest and darkest place.  When Jonah needed God the most, but deserved it the least, God answered him.  He was there for Jonah, and He will be there for you.

Finally Jonah brought himself to look to the Lord again: “Yet I will look again toward your holy temple… but you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.  When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you Lord and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”

Jonah had gone as low as he could go.  Now as He calls on the Lord, he is headed back up.  It is God who brings him up out of the pit.  Jonah’s story tells us that no matter how low you go, that God can lift you up when you look up.  God can make a way there seems to be no way.  Are you tired of being down?  Look up.  Cry out, and let God lift you up.  And that’s the Word.

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Who You Gonna Call?

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Who you gonna call?  If you were alive in the 80’s, you probably think of one response to that question.  Who you gonna call?  Ghostbusters!  That may be a fun response to the question, but I am not sure the Ghostbusters can offer a lot of help to a man or woman in real need.  Over the last few weeks, we have looked at the story of Jonah.  Jonah was a man on the run from God, boarding a ship headed in the wrong direction.  During a great storm, Jonah realized that God was chasing him.  In his desperation, he had the sailors throw him overboard into the depths of the ocean.  Jonah literally felt he was in hell, lost at the bottom of the ocean.  He must have cried out to God all the way down as he was sinking before the Lord sent a great fish to swallow him.

The Bible records: “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.  He said, ‘In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help and you listened to my cry’” (Jonah 2:1,2).  Who you gonna call?  According to Jonah, there is only one person to call upon – the Lord.  One of the themes of the book of Jonah is that God answers the cries of our distress, and he is truly faithful to those who call upon Him.  This is a focal point of the book of Jonah.  The captain urged Jonah to “get up and call on your God” (Jonah 1:6).  The sailors “cried (called) to the Lord” (Jonah 1:14).  Later on in Nineveh, the king called the people to “urgently call upon God” (Jonah 3:8).

So, who you gonna call?  This word for call means to “call out, cry out, or cry for help.”  It is not a word used to talk about casual conversation.  It is not a nice little bed time prayer, and it is not the kind of prayer where you just give your shopping list to God.  This kind of prayer is a cry out to God because one sees how deeply he or she needs God’s help and intervention in his or her life.

When the storm hit the ship, the sailors were afraid and they each “cried out to his own god” (Jonah 1:5).  That was the only thing they knew to do.  They cried out to their idols and false gods, who could offer no help at all.  That was all they knew to do though.  They looked to idols for some sense of hope, some sense of comfort.  We too look to our idols in times of trouble.  The idols we serve however are not false gods per say.   Our idols are the things we run to for comfort other than God when we are fearful.  Some run to alcohol to comfort them, some to food, some to the shops.  Others seek to control and manipulate.

After their gods provided no relief, the sailors threw the cargo overboard and tried to row back to shore.  They could not overcome the sea, however, because it was so wild.  They did their best, but their best wasn’t enough.  What do you do when your best is not enough?  What do you do when you have lost hope?  What do you do when you feel like you are dying on the inside?  You call out.  You cry out to the Lord.  The sailors called out to the Lord.  In his distress, Jonah called to the Lord – and the Lord answered him.

Are you in need?  Are you in over your head?  Call upon the Lord.  Cry out to the Lord, and he will answer you.  And that’s the Word.

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You Can Run

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

You can run, but you can’t hide. That might be one of the themes of the book of Jonah. Jonah tried to run away from God, but God wouldn’t let him go. The Lord had a mission for Jonah to go Nineveh and preach. Jonah, however, boarded a ship going in the opposite direction.

The scripture says, “Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up” (Jonah 1:4). It was a divine storm that God sent to get Jonah’s attention. After Jonah asked the sailors to throw him overboard into the sea (because he knew he was the problem), he felt he had hit them bottom when “…the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah” (Jonah 1:17).

Can you see God’s activity? He was in hot pursuit of Jonah. The Lord was reaching out to Jonah wanting to get his attention. Do you know that God will send a storm into your life if he needs to get your attention? Do you know that the Lord will let you hit the bottom if that is what it takes to get your attention? Jonah literally found himself at the bottom of the ocean. Jonah had to hit the bottom of the ocean, before he would look up again and call on the name of His God. Jonah was running, but God was chasing after him.

Perhaps Jonah thought God was just after him to punish him. When Jonah realized that he was the one who put all of the sailors on board the ship in danger, he asked them to throw him overboard. He had given up hope and thought he deserved only death and judgment. The main reason that Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh was that he did not feel they deserved an opportunity to discover God’s mercy and forgiveness. Now, Jonah himself feels that he doesn’t deserve a second chance either. He believed that God could never forgive him for running away. Jonah didn’t think grace was a possibility.

Maybe some of you have felt that way. Or maybe you feel that way now. Maybe you have run so far and so hard for so long that you feel you are drowning in a sea of guilt and regret.

God didn’t send the storm so that Jonah would sink. God didn’t allow Jonah to hit bottom so he could drown. God sent the storm so Jonah would turn around. God was trying to get Jonah’s attention.

The writer of Hebrews wrote, “… the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Hebrews 12:6) and “God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).

These verses tell us that God allows some storms into our lives as an act of love. God must allow some discipline to get our attention. That is what God was doing with Jonah. And there are most likely times in our lives where God has had to do the same as well. I am not saying that every “storm” and trying circumstance is always God’s discipline, but some are. When things are out of control, sometimes the best thing to do is to check your heart and attitude. Ask the Lord, “Is this discipline? Are you seeking to get my attention?”

If so, know that it is because God absolutely loves you. He is not chasing you to “get you” – at least not to harm you. He chases you to get your attention, so ultimately he can get your heart. So you can run from God, but you can’t hide. And that’s the Word.

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Wake Up

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

You can’t outrun the long arm of the Lord. That’s what the prophet Jonah discovered. God had called Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach and call the Ninevites to repentance. Instead of obeying God and heading east to Nineveh, Jonah ran away from the Lord and boarded a ship west to Tarshish, the exact opposite direction.

Jonah truly thought he could run away from God and get away with it. Instead, “the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship” (Jonah 1:4,5).

We see that Jonah’s rebellion to God was actually putting others in harms way. Where was Jonah? What do you think Jonah was doing as these sailors were crying for their lives up on deck in the storm?

“But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish” (Jonah 1:5,6).

Jonah’s disobedience was the real problem. He was the cause for all of this trouble the sailors found themselves in, but he was completely oblivious – asleep. There are times that we can be so full of denial as well, that we just don’t see it. We can’t see how our actions are hurting those around us.

The captain said to him, “How can you sleep?” It was as if he was calling Jonah to wake up and realize what was going on. Jonah was numb to the consequences of his actions. He was blind to the truth of his circumstances. He was the very problem and yet he was asleep while everyone else was suffering.

There is another irony of this story. The sailors on this boat were terrified, which tells you that it must have been a pretty rough storm. They all began to call on their gods, false gods who could offer no help at all. They were on deck calling out in vain to some false gods that don’t exist. Jonah, a true prophet of the living God, is not only the cause of the problem, but he is also asleep during the danger instead of calling out to his God like the pagan sailors.

The captain tells him, “Wake up and call on your God. Maybe he will take notice and we will not perish.” The captain became a prophet to the prophet. God was calling to Jonah through the captain: “How can you sleep? As a servant of the living God, how can you sleep on the job while there are men on deck calling out in vain to gods that cannot help?”

Jonah should have been awake to the reality of what was going on. Jonah should have been up and calling on his God, the true God. And yet Jonah was asleep. I think some of us may need to hear God calling out to us through the voice of the captain as well. How can you sleep? How can we sleep?

Have we fallen asleep in our faith, oblivious to the needs of those around us. Everywhere, there are people who are perishing, looking to false gods, chasing false dreams, and bowing down to the idols of this world. Without Christ, they are drowning in a sea of hopelessness.

I think apathy is one of the greatest problems of many Christians today. We think that we are fine with God, so we lose any sense of urgency. Our passion for God runs lows, and our compassion for others is minimal. We drift away from God, and end up spiritually asleep while the storms of life are raging about us.

Perhaps we need to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit calling to us, “Wake up. Call on your God.” Do not let your ears grow deaf. Do not let your heart get hard. Do not sleep in the light, while others perish in the dark. Wake up. And that’s the Word.

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Jonah, Part 2

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

God said, “Go.” Jonah said, “No.” That’s what we said last week. The word of the Lord came to Jonah and told him, “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it” (Jonah 1:1,2). Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah ran away from the Lord and went in the opposite direction towards Tarshish. Jonah was a man on the run. Have you ever run from God? Are you running from God now? I must warn you. There are consequences for disobedience to God. God is loving and gracious, but when we run from Him in the opposite direction, it will not go well for us in the end. Let’s look at what happened with Jonah.

Jonah went down to Joppa and found a ship to board for Tarshish. The text says, “After paying the fare, he went aboard…” Jonah paid a price to board the ship, and he paid the price for his disobedience to God. There is always a price for our sin. The enemy doesn’t advertise that part when he tempts you to take one more drink, or to take that first step towards an affair, or to buy that luxury item you really can’t afford. No, his sales pitch never shares the fall out from disobedience to God and His Word. He never shows you how hard the recovery process can be for an addict. He never shows you what it looks like to find yourself separated from your children because of an affair. He never shows you what bankruptcy looks like.

Disobedience has a price. God certainly wants your best. Scripture assures us of that. The Lord is out to save you, not to get you. He is a loving father, but there are consequences when we do life our own way instead of his way. In the first chapter, we see God call Jonah to “Get up and go.” Later on, we see the captain of the ship urge Jonah to “Get up and call on your God” (v. 6). God is trying to call Jonah up. Jonah doesn’t go up though. He continually heads down.

Throughout the first chapter of Jonah, we keep seeing Jonah headed down. It is a visible picture of the effect disobedience has on our lives. First we see Jonah go down to Joppa (v. 3). Then he went down into the ship (v. 3). The Jonah went below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep (1:5). Eventually, the crew of the ship took Jonah and threw him down into water (1:15). Finally, Jonah cried out to God from the depths of the grave (Jonah 2:2).

God called Jonah east to Nineveh, but Jonah went west. God called Jonah up, and yet Jonah kept heading down. He eventually got so low that he found himself hopeless at the bottom of the ocean. He felt as if he were in the depths of the grave. The idea is that he felt completely separated from God, and he was sinking in his sin. That is what rebellion to God will do for you.

Jonah’s disobedience not only affected him, but also everyone else on the ship. God sent a storm that threatened the ship because of Jonah’s disobedience. The storm threatened everyone on the ship. They were all threatened because of Jonah’s sin. You never sin in isolation. Don’t kid yourself. You private rebellion will almost always end up affecting those you love the most. Just ask the man who is trapped in pornography and lost the trust of his wife. Just ask the husband who has discovered his wife’s unfaithfulness. Just ask the family who is dealing with an addictive member. Life has too many lessons of how someone’s sin not only took that person to the bottom, but also drug down the ones he loved the most. So don’t run from God. Run to Him. And that’s the Word.

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Have You Ever Run Away from God?

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

Have you ever run away from God? You know those times where God tells you to do one thing, and go one way – and you decide to go the other way. Maybe you can relate to the prophet Jonah. The book of Jonah begins with the word of the Lord coming to Jonah. He is told to go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because of their wickedness.

Now Jonah was a prophet. You would think he would have no problem going into a city and telling a bunch of wicked people to “Turn or burn. Get right, or get left.” That’s all in a days work for an Old Testament prophet.

Jonah didn’t want to go though. His problem was with Nineveh. The Ninevites were a very cruel group of people. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. They attacked many cities and treated their captives very cruelly. They pillaged, plundered, raped and tortured the people they conquered.

You might think Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he was scared to death. In the story, however, we find out that Jonah didn’t want to go for other reasons. His problem was that he didn’t want Nineveh to have a chance to repent. He was afraid that if he preached about God’s impending judgment upon them that they would repent and turn to God. Then God would forgive them and show them grace. Jonah didn’t want to risk it. He wanted nothing but judgment for Nineveh. They were too cruel for God to forgive in his eyes. He thought Nineveh shouldn’t get a shot at grace, but only get judgment.

So Jonah “ran away from the Lord and headed to Tarshish” (Jonah 1:3). Basically Jonah said, I don’t like your way God. I don’t want to do what you want me to do. So he ran and went as far away from God’s will as possible. Tarshish was actually in the exact opposite direction of Nineveh. God said go west to Nineveh, and Jonah went due east to Tarshish.

There are times we run from God as well. God speaks into our lives and reveals his will to us. He tells us what we are to do. And maybe you think, “Okay God, I understand what you say to do. I understand what your word says on this matter, but I do not want to do it. “ We can relate to this in so many different ways. We all have a Tarshish that we tend to run to and run away from God.

Perhaps someone has wronged you and hurt you. And God says forgive. You think, “I know I should forgive, but I do not want to. They don’t deserve my forgiveness. I don’t feel like it.”

Or maybe the word of the Lord has come to you concerning your finances and giving. You know what God has called you to do. You say, “I don’t want to. I don’t feel like it. It doesn’t make sense. And I like my things more than I want to obey God.” So you run from the Lord.

Or maybe you are dating someone. You think he or she is so cute and smells so nice. You know what God has to say about waiting until marriage before you have sex. But you think, “I don’t want to wait. I love him/her. I don’t think I have should have to wait.”

There are so many different ways that we can tend to run from God and go the other direction. We will look at this more in the weeks to come. Answer this though: What is your Nineveh – the thing God has told you to do. And what is the Tarshish that you are tempted to run to. Are you running now? If so, maybe it is time to turn around. And that’s the Word.

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Faith for 2009

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

Faith! This is another word I submit as a candidate for 2009’s word of the year. Last week I mentioned contentment as a word for this coming year. I think faith needs to go right along with it.

There is a lot of apprehension going into 2009. Many are fearful and full of dread as they think about what lies ahead. These are hard times indeed, and everything that can be shaken is being shaken from a financial standpoint. It also seems to be shaking up a lot of people as well. Reports say that the economy is not only putting financial stress on many people, but it is also creating physical and emotional hardship for many. There are more reports of sleeplessness, headaches, depression, and marital discord. If you look at things from strictly a worldly standpoint, there is not a lot of immediate cause for peace and for hope.

And yet as Christians, we should be looking forward into the future with great faith and hope. It really doesn’t matter what comes upon our world, because our King has prevailed. His kingdom will come, and His will shall be done. As I have heard it said before, “You can read the end of the Book, and we win.”

As Christians, we should be looking to the future with great faith and hope. We must realize that it is not all about us. It is all about Him. These days and these times are incredible opportunities for God to show Himself to us and to many. Perhaps you are reading this and you have not really developed a relationship with Jesus Christ. God is calling out to you in the middle of these days. He is seeking to get your attention, and He wants you to know He is there. Jesus wants to become real to you. He wants you to find forgiveness in Him, peace in Him, hope in Him.

For those of us who are Christians, God is calling us to get our eyes off our circumstances. We must quit looking at our big ole fear, and look to our big ole God.
We must stop letting circumstances rob us of our peace and our joy. This is an opportunity for believers to truly let the light of Christ’s love shine through. We must believe our God and trust Him. We must have faith that God is who He says He is, and that He can do what He says He can do.

The apostle Paul said, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him” (2 Corinthians 2:14). The Lord will lead His people in triumph if they will believe Him. His triumph might be different than the outcome we had hoped for or planned for. God’s greatest triumph was the cross. That would not have been the outcome or the triumph we would have chosen, but it was what we most needed. Can we embrace this type of faith? Can we trust God like that?

I think if we can walk through this season in great faith, then 2009 will become one of the greatest seasons of our lives. The victory is sure, and by faith we can walk in it long before it is established. Fearful people are tormented even when things are going well. People of true faith are full of peace and joy even when things aren’t well. Which person will you be?

As you head into 2009, let your faith be in the Lord who leads us in triumphal procession. Don’t put your faith in an outcome. Put your faith in the Lord. Don’t set your heart on an answer to prayer. Set your heart on Him. Believe God. And that’s the Word.

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Enough Already

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

I think one of the words for 2009 should be contentment. Sure there will be other candidates such as courage and perseverance, but I think contentment ought to be right near the top of the list. Contentment is often hard for so many of us to find, and even more so during this tough economic downturn. Many are fearful of what they might lose instead of being grateful and content with what they have.

As Americans, we often seem to be constantly looking for more and more. We often seem to be unsettled and restless. It is hard for us to find contentment.

Richard Swenson said contentment is hard to find because it is not like cutting down a tree – when it is done, it is done. No, contentment is more like “trying to pick up mercury with tweezers – it keeps squirting away.” Contentment is like the carrot suspended two feet in front of our face. We keep moving and it keeps staying ahead of us. We keep chasing it, and it keeps dodging us. Just when you seem to achieve everything you wanted, you discover that it was actually not enough. There must be more than this. Right?

The apostle Paul said, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Phil. 4:12). It is interesting that Paul used the word secret – “the secret of being content.” I believe he used this word because contentment does not often come from the things we would expect. It is not found in the places where so many people seek for it. We think contentment comes from the quest for more – more possessions, more status, more power, and more fame. These are very well traveled roads. All the while, there is another trail with far less travelers. This road has the potential to lead us to inner peace and joy. There is a treasure at the end of this road called “godliness with contentment.”

The apostle Paul said, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). Godliness involves a commitment to love and please God above all else. Contentment is a state of willing acceptance whatever God allows to come our way. Contentment does not find its source in more. Its source is not found in circumstances. Contentment is not found in success. There is nothing wrong with enjoying success or being excited when things are well. Contentment, however, is a freedom that we can enjoy whether we have little or much, whether we are rich or poor. Contentment is not laziness. It does not involve a passive attitude that is not willing to work hard to better one’s circumstances.

Contentment comes when I realize that I really don’t need another thing. Contentment comes when I am satisfied with God the Giver, and I am grateful for what He has given. This type of God given contentment is rare, and yet it is God’s recommendation to us.

As we head into 2009, many are saying that things will only get worse on the economic front before they get better. I would like to encourage us to adopt a “theology of enough” this coming year. This means it is time for us to realize that we have enough, often more than enough. In order to embrace this theology, we must realize a few things: God is what we need, and possessions are what we use. We were made to love God and people, and use things. Instead we have fallen in love with things, and seek to use God and people for our own benefit. Sadly, this will never bring us to a place of contentment.

“There are only two ways to get enough,” said G.K. Chesterson. “One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.” Contentment realizes that most of the time, “less is more!” So enough already! And that’s the Word.

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After All These Years

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

After all these years, I still find myself humbled and amazed at the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Why would God allow His Son to have such a humble and obscure birth in a stable? Don’t you think that the God of the universe could have made sure that there was a vacancy in the Bethlehem Holiday Inn on that night so many years ago? Instead, Jesus’ first welcome into the world was, “Sorry, there is no room in the inn.”

I just can’t believe that God the Father was caught off guard. If God went to all the trouble to have this young mother carry His Son in her womb, then surely he could have had enough foresight to make a hotel reservation in advance. Perhaps God had his reasons for the birth of His Son in a stable. I think there are some real lessons to be found in the birth of Christ.

In his birth, Jesus embraced poverty. While he could have been born in the finest of hotels or hospitals, he chose to be an outcast. He was not given a luxurious palace, instead his mother laid his head down in a manger. Jesus became poor for a reason – so that we could become rich. The Apostle Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 7:8-9). Jesus Christ stepped out of the riches of heaven and humbled himself to become a man. And as a man, he didn’t become a king, but he embraced human poverty to the fullest extent. In his poverty, Jesus was embracing the poverty of our human condition. He became poor, however, so that we might receive the riches of God’s mercy and grace. The person who comes to know and receive Jesus Christ is truly rich indeed.

In his birth, Jesus not only embraced poverty, but also humility. God allowed his son to be born in the most humble of circumstances. God found a stable full of animals to welcome and receive his Son into the world. God did announce the birth of his Son to some humble shepherds in a field, and some visiting Magi dropped in later. By and large however, the birth of Jesus was a rather quiet event. There was no great fanfare for the Son of God that night. God took that humble beginning though and did something that would change the world. God says he uses the humble things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). Jesus is attracted to humble things, humble places, and humble hearts. God says he rejects the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Do you know that Jesus is still born in stables? He looks for humble hearts that will acknowledge their need of forgiveness and receive Him. Is your life like a manger – a humble place for Jesus to rest His head?

Jesus’ birth also revealed how some people will treat Him. There will always be those who simply declare that they have no room for Jesus. They will reject Him and have no room in their lives for this King. Some will simply shut the door on His presence in their lives.

What about you? You may have gone to church for years, but your heart has had a “no vacancy” sign over it? Have you shut the door on Jesus and declared that you have no room for Him? Or maybe now you hear him knocking, calling you to open the door. Remember these words from that great Christmas hymn: “Joy to the World, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room…” Make room. Make room, and open your heart to Jesus. And that’s the Word.

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Simeon

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

There sure is a lot to see at Christmas time. There are lights, trees, TV specials, and all sorts of decorations. When I was a kid, however, there was one main thing that I wanted to see – lots of presents underneath the tree.

On the very first Christmas, there was a man named Simeon who longed to see something as well. The book of Luke says, “He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon Him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25-26).

Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. This was a phrase used to speak of God’s promise to bring relief and deliverance to his people Israel. God had promised to send one that would end their oppression and bring them hope and comfort. Simeon saw his people in need of God’s help. Many were rebellious and separated from God. Simeon was looking for God’s help, God’s hope, and God’s forgiveness. He was a man of spiritual passion with a hunger for God.

Simeon wanted to see God – and he did in the face of the baby Jesus. Simeon was a priest in the temple when Jesus’ parents brought him to be dedicated to the Lord forty days after his birth. We are used to referring to Jesus as God’s Son, but there was no precedent during Simeon’s time for God to come in flesh as a baby. And yet he had eyes to see what God was doing even in the form of an infant. The passage makes clear that he was a man who was in tune with what God was doing. Simeon was moved by the Spirit to enter the temple as Mary and Joseph came in with their child. As Simeon took Jesus into his arms, he held the baby in his arms and praised God saying “your salvation has finally come.” Simeon had waited for many years, and now he was staring the salvation of God in the eyes. And the Savior of the world was in his arms, wearing a diaper.

Can you imagine how he felt? He had waited a long time for this moment. The Lord had actually promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And now He has come. Can you picture him taking the child, pulling him close, kissing his tender face, looking upon him in delight and thinking, “God is faithful. God has kept his promise. He has come.”

According to Simeon, Jesus was an absolute “must see.” Holding the Christ child in his arms, he proclaimed to God: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, your servant may now depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Simeon could now depart in peace because he had met the Lord’s salvation face to face in the person of Jesus. This baby did not come to live. This baby came to die, and to give his life for the sins of the world. Jesus did not come so we could have warm fuzzy feelings at Christmas. He came on a rescue mission. He came because we couldn’t get to heaven without him.

Have your eyes seen the Lord’s salvation? Have you met Jesus Christ? Have you received his forgiveness? You cannot depart in peace without him. And that’s the Word.

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