Good Morning Friends,
In today’s scripture Simeon meets the infant Jesus in the Temple and says that Jesus will be “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” And in a letter John teaches that we know we are in Christ when we walk as He walked, especially in the light of love only Jesus makes easier. So, Do You Think You Know God’s Love?
Scripture: Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.
1 John 2:3-11 (NRSV)
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Luke 2:22-35 (NRSV)
Message: Has it ever dawned on you how much easier it is to know God because God became human. We get a hint of this in the words of Simeon in today’s scripture from Luke for it shows that Simeon and Anna have been waiting a very long time for the Messiah…the Christ-child. They want to meet the Messiah face to face for He is the one that God-fearing, law-keeping, and faith-filled people have been waiting and hoping for. Simeon’s satisfaction in the experience of holding the Christ-child is so personal and gratifying that he is now ready to even die. This is more than a historical event being documented that Mary and Joseph valued the following of traditional religious ordinances. For Simeon in today’s scripture and Anna in the verses that follow, the glory of being led by the Spirit and that the fulfillment of salvation of the world comes only through profound tragedy is a life lesson. Simeon had waited his entire life for this moment. It was the only reason for living. Jesus is that important. Interestingly the harsh message is given to Mary and not Joseph indicating perhaps that he would die before the suffering and rejection of Jesus. So here is the tough lesson. God wants the best for us and the more we trust the more we obey the more we will see God’s will for our lives even if it means glory without peace. Friends, it appears that suffering is part of life and is unavoidable. In other words, there will be some bad decisions made that we would want to be able to change, but even though we do not always choose the best, God still might use the suffering we go through for good. Because of this, we need to seek knowing the will of God so that we can be guided along every step of the way. Simeon got this message and saw the importance of believing in a costly Gospel.
And So, Christ’s humanity and divinity have been misunderstood and debated for centuries. Some thought his humanity was an illusion and others that Jesus was only part God and part human. Others have used Christ’s divinity for their own selfish ends. But God sent His son into the world as both fully human and fully God as a way of helping us to follow the best ways of being human with a relationship with the divine. It is important to understand that Jesus was fully human, which was for the first century Christian more difficult to conceive of than just believing in Jesus’ divinity. That is why scripture clearly states that Jesus was born of a woman. That he grew up like other children, had a human mind and became tired, hungry, and thirsty. Jesus was a human soul with emotions. Jesus wept. Jesus died. Without being human, he could not have been a substitute for us. Jesus obeys where Adam failed. Jesus obeys in our place and is an example for us to become better humans. Jesus is our priest, prophet, and savior. But Jesus by example is also our guide in the power of the Holy Spirit. To know Jesus is to keep walking with him. The test John suggests as to whether our relationship with Jesus is real is whether we persist in the light of love. Simeon had been waiting his entire life for one thing: the consolation of Israel. When he finally held Jesus, he didn’t just see a baby—he saw the Light that exposes, heals, and divides. He saw a Messiah who would reveal the deepest thoughts of the heart. John picks up this same theme decades later. He says that the way we know we belong to this Light is simple but searching: we obey His commands and we love one another. Anything less is self-deception.Simeon’s prophecy and John’s exhortation form a single truth: Light doesn’t just illuminate the world around us—it illuminates us. It exposes shadows we’ve grown comfortable with. It reveals motives we’ve hidden even from ourselves. It calls us into a love that is costly, concrete, and transformative. This is why Simeon says Jesus will cause “the falling and rising of many.” Light doesn’t leave anything unchanged.
Pray we realize that the Christmas season is essentially about the far-surpassing joy that a personal relationship with Christ brings. Pray we experience this incarnation as we strive to keep the commandments of love. Pray we experience this as we love each other into and throughout 2026. Pray we experience this as we allow our sins to be forgiven. Pray that in the knowing of Jesus we overcome the evil in our lives. Pray that the Word made flesh abides in us even though suffering. Pray we do the will of God and not the world’s will. Pray we let Christ’s Spirit abide in us. Pray we remain in Christ’s anointing so we might not only learn but teach others about the relationship we have with Jesus. Pray we learn to wait patiently for the time to fully come. Pray we find treasure in a godly life. Pray we find beauty in the Gospel. Pray we realize that there is a cost of following Christ. Pray we persist in our Christian walk with the love of Jesus experiencing God anew each and every day.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 