In the city you may have seen these machines preparing an area where a new building would be built. Did you see a tall crane lifting a large beam or a backhoe digging a ditch? The preparation that goes on before new roads or buildings are built is exciting stuff. This is also an exciting time of year. We prepare to celebrate Christmas, the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, "Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight" (3:4). The lesson for us is that we too can make the way easier for people to recognize and accept God's love. When we pray, study the Bible, and try to live our lives in a way that honors God, we are preparing our own heart and the hearts of others to get to God's truth.
Jesus must have been having a great time with his friends! His family and a lot of other families were doing something special! The whole group was walking all the way to Jerusalem—the biggest city most of them had ever seen. Have you been to a big city?
Would it surprise you to know that when Jesus was a child he did something that caused his parents to be very worried about him?
Do you have a lot of questions? That is a good thing. Asking questions is how we learn and grow. Even Jesus had questions. When he was twelve he had traveled to Jerusalem with his parents to observe the festival of the Passover. When the festival was over his parents left and had traveled about a day when they discovered that Jesus was not with them.
That day at the temple there was an old man named Simeon who loved God with all his heart. Simeon knew from the Holy Spirit that he wouldn’t die before he had seen the Savior. When he saw Jesus, Simeon began to pray to God, “My eyes have seen your salvation.” (vs. 30) He knew in his heart that he had seen the Savior––Jesus was the Savior. So Simeon prayed for Joseph and Mary, who were Jesus' parents. Also, in the temple was a very old woman named Anna who was a prophetess. A prophet or prophetess is a person who understands important things that most people don’t understand.
In the Bible, in the second chapter of Luke, we read about two prophets - people who, guided by God's Spirit, are able to look into the future. The first was a man named Simeon. When he saw the child, Jesus, he praised God because he knew he was seeing the Messiah, the one who came to bring God's love to the world. The second prophet was a woman named Anna who also praised God because she recognized the child, Jesus, as the one who had been sent by God.
In the Bible there is a story about two people who saw the Spirit of God in Jesus, even when he was a child. Jesus' parents brought him to the temple and an old man named Simeon was there. Simeon took Jesus in his arms and "blessed God" (2:28) because he saw the Spirit of God in him. The second person was an old woman named Anna. When she saw Jesus, she too immediately recognized the Spirit of God that was in the child and "she gave thanks to the Lord" (2:38).
When Simeon holds Jesus he notices something too! Now you should know that Simeon has had a vision from the Holy Spirit – who told him that he would not die before he had met the Messiah – God’s Son. Can you guess what he notices about Jesus? That’s right. Simeon holds Jesus and he realizes that his vision has come true. He tells God that he’s now ready to come to heaven, because he has met the Son of God, just as he’d been promised. Jesus was a special baby who would go on to do great things. And Simeon noticed right from the beginning.
The one thing that is needed to enjoy a kaleidoscope or a stained glass window to the fullest is light. Without light we would not be able to see the colorful objects reflected into beautiful patterns. Christmas is all about light. Jesus is sometimes described as "the light of the world."