Published 1/24/20
Read Matthew 24:45-51
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Reflect
What are the characteristics of a faithful servant?
Anna had lived a life of faithful service and devotion. As one widowed in her youth, she was left "desolate" and perhaps had faced a "long, lonely, and cheerless" existence. Yet she gave her all to God, going to the temple faithfully, each mundane day after day and year after year to pray for the coming of the Messiah. When the miracle occurred and He was brought to the temple by His mother and father, her faith, like Simeon's, was rewarded.
Have you ever served God faithfully while waiting for his promises to come to pass, yet all you see are delays? Have you experienced the hope that when deferred makes the heart sick? (Proverbs 13:12) Sometimes it's hard to hold fast when daily circumstances contradict God's promises. Simeon and Anna were able to wait with hope because they fixed their eyes on God alone. Since they were both elderly and the promise was a long time in coming, they could have become disappointed in God and dismissed the nudge of the Holy Spirit when the young couple arrived in the temple court.
The king Simeon and Anna expected was a warrior, not a baby in the arms of a young woman. By appearances the couple that came into the temple that day were poor. But because Simeon and Anna lived a life of expectancy, they recognized the unlikely answers that only God could have delivered.
Pray
Lord, help me to wait on You, to seek Your wisdom, and to live a life of expectancy. Show me how to be a faithful servant. Amen.