When you think about it, all different kinds of folks ended up meeting Christ...ya' know? People who were rich and famous, as well as people who were penniless. The righteous, as well as the sinfully dirty. The list could go on and on. When you think of the folks who met Christ, who comes to mind? Peter? Judas? The Samaritan lady at the well? Zacchaeus? Pilate?

Right now if you were to ask me that question, I'd probably have to say Simeon. No, not Simon...Simeon. No, not the fisherman who Christ called to be a disciple (Luke 5), but the little old man in Luke 2:25-35 who was promised by God that he wouldn't die until he had seen Christ. Pretty wild huh? Simeon must have been pretty tight with God to have had that honor...ya' know? In verse 25 it says he was both "righteous and devout".

In that day, the Jews had a whole mess of ideas about what Christ would be like. Many were expecting royalty. Others (like Judas) were expecting this great military leader. And as a result, many totally missed out on Christ. Not Simeon though. :) Good 'ole Simeon recognized Jesus as the Christ when he was just 8 days old!!! Simeon was able to see through the fact that this little child, who probably still smelled of the manger and swaddling clothes, was being carried around by a poor carpenter named Joseph and some unimportant lady named Mary. Simeon could see that Christ was actually the Son of God...even though the child was only 8 days old!

So what did Simeon see that others like Judas didn't?

Well, nothing really. In fact, Judas probably saw more than Simeon...Judas got to witness Christ as an adult who was actively healing and preaching!

The catch here is in verses 25 and 26 of Luke 2. We're told Simeon was righteous, devout, and moved by the Spirit of God. It was the condition of Simeon's heart that was the deciding factor here. He had allowed God control of his life...so that when Simeon was shown the Christ child as promised, no matter what the child looked like, he would take him in his arms and praise God as he did in verse 28.

So the question for us is this:

What is the condition of our heart?...Is it given over to God so that we'll embrace Christ with all our might? Or is it focused on what we personally want so that we reject what Christ has to offer?