Sing a Song of JOY

Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Don’t stop singing the songs of joy simply because Christmas Day is over!

            This month we’ve made it our mission to be on the lookout for examples of JOY throughout the Biblical account of the birth of Christ.  We talked about many of the familiar parts of the story….like the angels singing to the shepherds and the presentation of the gifts to Jesus by the wise men.  But so often we stop there…

            Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, “Here’s the ‘rest of the story!’”  In Luke 2: 25 – 31 we read,  “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

  “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations"


            Joseph and Mary had taken Jesus to the temple to be consecrated to God according to the Law. There they met old Simeon who knew by the Holy Spirit’s revelation that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah! JOY flooded his heart….so much so that he felt his life was now complete.  He praised God for allowing him to live long enough to see Christ.
             Let’s praise God, as Simeon did, for the birth of Jesus and for sending us a Savior!