Simeon’s Last Christmas
There is a story in Luke chapter 2 that sometimes gets lost in the Christmas narrative. The man’s name is Simeon, and he’s been holding on to a promise for an untold amount of time. God promised him through the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Savior of Israel with his own eyes. Wow! What an incredible gift!
Simeon was in the temple when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to present him to the Lord. When he sees the baby, he knows that God has kept His promise. After taking a few moments to hold and admire the baby, Simeon blessed God and asked Him to let him depart in peace. Simeon basically told the Lord he was ready to die because he had seen the Savior. That was perhaps Simeon’s first and last Christmas. Simeon left this world with the only real peace a human can obtain, the peace of knowing the Savior.
My heart is heavy for the multitudes of people that will, unknowingly, celebrate their last Christmas this year, and leave this world without knowing the Savior, without having real peace. At the risk of sounding cliche, may I remind you that the best gift you can give someone this Christmas is to pray for their salvation.
The gifts you purchase and exchange this year with your unsaved friends and family members will eventually be gone and forgotten. A fervent prayer for their salvation may never be heard in their ears, but it will resound in the halls of Heaven and move the heart of God to send His spirit to their side, drawing them to Him. That is the perfect gift at Christmas. God forbid this be their last Christmas, and they leave the world without the peace that Simeon knew.