December 21st

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant[a] depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

This scripture passage is about a promise, specifically God's promise. God has promised many things all throughout scripture, and many of them are very big. He promised Abram that He'd make him into a great nation. He sent the rainbow after the great flood as a promise to never again wipe out His people. Here, He promised Simeon through the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't die before seeing Christ. As seen in the scripture, this promise was fulfilled. When God makes a promise, He will keep it.

In this present day, while God's promises aren't quite as grand in scale as those in scripture, they are still there. For instance, I sometimes hear in my mind, "Everything will be okay." Especially if I have been going through a bad day, hearing that makes me feel better. To be able to hear these promises, I need to keep my mind open. I should also make sure that the promises I am hearing are actually from God. Prayer and reading scripture can help with this.