Sometimes I learn things.

Since Sandblast, I've been trying to SOAP everyday. For those of you who don't know, SOAP is just a way to study the Bible. You find a passage that sands out to you, observe what is going on in context or what the author's intentions are, apply it to your life, then pray.

Yesterday I was reading through Luke 2; it's the story where Jesus is born and grows up. Hidden in the awesomeness of God coming to earth is a little story about a man named Simeon. Simeon was a devout and righteous man. He was in the temple and God promised him that he would not die until he saw the Christ that would come to save humanity. I think if I was Simeon, that would be a hard thing to believe. Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for thousands of years. People probably thought Simeon was crazy for saying that he would not die until the Messiah came. Anywho, he believed God.

Joseph and Mary are good Jews and they take Jesus to the temple for traditional dedications and ceremonies and guess who is there? Simeon. He sees Jesus and takes him into his hands and says:

"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel."

Simeon saw the Messiah and that was enough.

Sometimes I wonder about the importance of salvation in my own life. Is my life full and complete because I have seen the saving grace of Christ in my life? or is it full and complete because I have done a lot of cool things and have a lot of cool stuff? Am I satisfied in my salvation alone? If nothing else changes for the rest of my life, would I be happy because I've been saved?

Oftentimes my answers to those questions are not what I want them to be.

I'm learning.

I will leave you with a quote from a Mark Driscoll sermon on Habakkuk.

Most of us don’t need a lot more information. We just need a lot more faith. We don’t need to know anything more. We just need to trust what we already know. And that comes in silence. In silence you can confess your sins, and God will forgive you and love you. In silence you can meditate and ponder on who God is and what he’s done for you through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.