Saturday, January 2, 2010
Luke 1:29-30 Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation.
FREE TO SERVE
Notice that Simeon considered himself a servant, a slave of God. He did not think Himself master of his own destiny, in control of his own life. He acknowledged that there was One above him to whom he owed his life, and whom he lived to serve.
Let me ask you, do you think of yourself as a Servant of God? Christ paid the price to set you free from your sins and your former master, Satan. Christ has not only purchased your release, He's bought you to be His own, in both body and soul. The life you live belongs to Him, not to yourself. The Apostle Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 6:20): " ... you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."
Let all that we do be done as serving Him, remembering also that our service is acceptable to God for Jesus' sake.
Simeon's words are sometimes called the "Nunc Dimittis." In church, we often sing it after we have celebrated the Lord's Supper. Simeon said: "Now you are releasing your servant, Lord, according to your word." Even though it's often taken this way, Simeon wasn't asking to die right then and there as in: "Lord, take me now!" He was praising God for having set him free according to His word.
God had promised to release His People, and that release was to be accomplished by the child Simeon held in his bent arms. Simeon was certainly prepared to die, because he had seen the Lord's Christ ... and believed.
What did Simeon see? He saw with his own eyes a Child, born in humility that looked no different from any other. He saw with the eyes of faith the Savior of the World.
Heaven belongs to all those who see Jesus in faith and trust in Him. When we sing the "Nunc Dimittis" we aren't merely saying, "Now I can leave church," but, "Now I'm prepared to leave this life--and to truly live it until God calls me home--because I've seen Christ and believe that He gave His body and shed His blood for my sins. I have been released from sin and death. I have life eternal ahead of me."
