Chapter 5 of Desire of Ages gave me shivers (in a good way) I recommend reading this chapter either again, or for the first time. It really spoke to my heart. In summation, it talked about Mary and Joseph taking the baby Jesus to be dedicated in Jerusalem as was the custom. They needed to have him registered by the priest and his name recorded. When the priest took the baby from Mary it was just like any other child he had touched and dedicated to God. He had no clue that the baby in his arms was the Son of God, who was destined to be our redeemer. He was going about his daily tasks with no thought in mind of the importance of his role he would play.
My thought on that was how many times do we go about our daily tasks with no thought of our possible opportunities? Or how many times have we come close to touching the hand of someone who is truly going to make a difference in this world, and we don’t even know it… or how about this. What if we are so caught up in our “tasks” that we forget our true task, which is spreading the love of God and being a light in the darkness. I believe that priest who held Jesus in his arms had a calling to make a difference. But he got into the rhythms of life and missed his opportunity to bless.
This unremarkable dedication of Christ however, was not to be overlooked. There was a man who was in the temple that day who had been studying the scriptures, and awaiting the arrival of Jesus. When he looked at Jesus being handed back to Mary, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and he went to Mary and took the baby from her arms and held him up high and declared “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.” He returned the babe to Mary and said to her “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Mary had no clue at this point that Jesus would be persecuted and put to death, she believed as everyone else that Jesus would sit on the throne as the true ruler of Israel. But Simeon prophesied of his Death and resurrection.
Let us today not be so blind that we touch the hand of God without knowing or understanding. Spend some time in study, and ask God to lead your way, and to guide you through this troublesome world. Ask him to open your eyes to see the blessing that you can be to another life. Jesus has a plan for you. No matter how important or unimportant your life seems to be. Jesus wants, and NEEDS, the hands of his people to do his work here on earth. I pledge this day to bless someone’s life. My prayer is that I can be a light shining on a hill.
God bless you my friends.
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