Song of Simeon

“You have fulfilled Your Word...” 

Luke 2:29

Simeon, in the 2nd chapter of Luke, awaited the promised Messiah and found Him in the temple one day when Jesus and Mary brought the child Jesus to present Him to the Lord. “You have fulfilled Your Word!” Simeon exulted, “You may let Your servant go in peace!” 

Can we say to God today, at the closing of the year, “You have fulfilled Your promises to me. You may let me go in peace”? In the first place, do we know what God’s promises are? We can take Abraham as our example as he has been called our father in the faith. “All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3).

Do we know why God chose Abraham out of all the people in the world at that time? There are so many names listed in Genesis 11. What if God spoke to some others but they did not believe and obey? After all, it would have been a big sacrifice for anyone to leave their hometown.  Archaeological excavations in 1922 showed that in Ur, the house of a middle-class family would have 10-20 rooms, with the entire lower floor reserved for the servants. When God said, “Go away from your own country to a place I will show you,” Abraham obeyed. He is the ideal of everyone who overcomes the fear of the unknown, who wishes to go forward putting his trust in God. But Abraham did not leave empty handed. God promised him blessing upon blessing. 

As we leave 2017, we can say we are entering a whole new world. We have no idea what this new year will hold for us. But as always, we can depend on God and His many promises to us. Like Simeon and Abraham, God journeys with us. Let us hold Him to His promises. If we believe and obey Him, there is blessing upon blessing in store for us!