I Knew Him-Simeon

[Cloudwalker]

Simeon

 

Do I know him?  I’m forced to smile at the question.  I’ve been waiting for him for most of my life.  The truth is he changed my life long before he was even born.  All Israel has been waiting for the Messiah for a long time.  But I waited for a special reason.  You see, God promised me that I wouldn’t die until I had seen him.  And so I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Each day I would take my place in the temple.  Hoping that this would be the day that I would finally see The Consolation of Israel.  And each day I went home without seeing him.

You may wonder that I didn’t get discouraged and give up.  And I’ll admit that there were times when that seemed like the prudent thing to do.  When I got discouraged and asked myself why I was doing this.  But each day, when I would get discouraged, I would think back to that promise and realize that if I quit I would never receive the gift God had promised.  And that gave me the strength to keep waiting, and waiting, and waiting. 

Each day I would go to the temple and take my place where I could watch all the people that came and went.  It was nice in the temple.  It was peaceful, especially if you stayed away from where the money changers were.  And over the years I studied the Scriptures, and learned much.  And eventually, as the years rolled on, even became one of those the people sought out with questions.  And as nice as all that was, I never forgot what my real purpose was in being there.

Until that one day when it happened.  I was in my normal place when they walked in.  There was nothing special about them.  Just a man and his young wife and a baby.  There was nothing about them that would attract your attention.  But I knew.  This was the one I had been waiting for almost all my life.  I don’t remember how I got over to them.  All I remember is suddenly being there in front of them.  I reached out and gently took the baby from his mother, and I worshiped God, the tears running down my face.  At long last God had fulfilled His promise. 

“Lord, let now your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”