Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Luke 2:29, ” Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word. “

Background

One of my favorite things I learned from a child-rearing book I read years ago was something called the circle of blessing. The basic concept was that obedience to authority places that person in a relationship where the blessings of that authority freely flow to the person submitting. For the Christian, obedience to God enabled the believer to receive from God all that He had in store for him. For a child, obeying his parents invoked the promises of Deuteronomy and Ephesians of long life and things going well. An obedient youngster could enjoy the peace and fellowship of a right relationship with their parent, while a disobedient one would suffer unrest, a hardening of the heart, and separation from the fullest blessings of the parent-child relationship.

Application

The image is not a perfect one, as none are that try to reflect or represent the pure truth of God. But it was helpful for me to explain to my kids why their sinful acts had an immediate and long-lasting effect on them and me. And it enabled me to scripturally turn them back to Christ and His completed work on the cross. Basically, it was another tool that helped me teach the truths of God’s word. And because it was directed towards His truth, I knew the end result would be peace and restoration, just like Simeon expressed here in Luke. No, he wasn’t addressing some sin in his life. But he did touch on the undeniable absolute that everything done in one’s life according to God’s word will bring peace. And that peace will be full in your heart and come from the God who grants it. It may not flow over to the sinful world and unregenerate who fight against Him. But for every follower of Jesus walking in accordance with His word, there will be peace. And nothing else can take the place of that faith-filled, daily obedience to His word. No adherence to doctrine or any particular church organization can overcome our individual lack of obedience to God’s word. But when we all obey Him, as His children should do in all things, we will go together in peace.

Charge

As we seek Him today, seek out that obedience that comes from a heart consumed by love and awe of an amazing Savior.