Simeon: Spirit Led

 

So he came by the Spirit into the temple.

Luke 2:27, NKJV

 

The Spirit of God, the Bible says, is our comforter and counselor.  He knows our heart and God's mind, and prays for us accordingly.  He is the one who brings things to our remembrance, who teaches us things we need to know, and who reveals things that are going to happen.  He was present at Creation; He is the active agent of God in salvation; and He continues to be active in the heart and life of the believer.  He is the biggest helper we could ever want or ask for, and He is ever available to us.  If we will just pay attention.

 

Those random thoughts you have about people you don't normally think about?  That might be the Holy Spirit telling you someone needs prayer right then.  Those ideas that surprise you, the suggestions that startle you?  That might be the Holy Spirit giving you something new to do.  Those nagging feelings that you should turn right or left or turn around or go down a certain aisle in the grocery story?  That might be the Holy Spirit directing you away from something, or toward something else.

 

My point is this:  Christian believers have an all-knowing guide through life, and it would be largely beneficial to us all if we learned to be more sensitive to the leading of the Spirit in everything that we do.

 

Simeon was a holy man living a life of fairness to others and faithfulness to God as he waited for the fulfillment of all that had been promised to him and his people.  The Holy Spirit was upon him, the Bible says, and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.  I don't know how I might have reacted to such knowledge, but I've got a feeling Simeon took the revelation in stride.  I'm sure it excited him, thrilled him, moved him every time he thought about it.  But I don't think he chased down every mother with a baby to see if that child was the One he was waiting for.  Rather, he relied on the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit to show him.

 

How did his day begin?  With commitment, faithfulness, devotion, I'm sure.  He had responsibilities as a teacher of the law and leader among the elders of Israel.  Every day there were things to do, and I'm sure that Simeon did them well.  God wants His people to be diligent with the business He entrusts to their care.  But at some point on that appointed day, the Holy Spirit spoke to Him.

 

It might have been a nudge, a feeling, a passing thought.  It might have been an audible voice.  But the Spirit of the Lord let Simeon know that the temple was the place he need to be.  So whatever else he had been doing was laid aside as he went to the temple in obedience.

 

For this was the day!