One Thing

He knew things.

Well, he knew one thing.

This one thing he knew: that he would live long enough to see Hope.

It opened his eyes in the morning. It eased him into sleep at night.

He knew one thing.

He lived for one thing.

And when the time came, he wrapped aged arms around fresh life and breathed in the fullness of that One.

Simeon was about one thing.

Only One.

And that singular focus garnered him a moment with God in his arms.

God in his arms!

Can you imagine?

::

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25-32)

Simeon lived his life in rock solid assurance that he would see the Messiah. Not hear of Him, not wonder about Him. See Him.

He spent all of his life on this solitary pursuit.

But Simeon did not travel the world, not as far as I can tell. He did not chase from here to there, tearing down walls, turning over stones. He waited in the quiet of his ordinary life.

Fixed, he was. Rooted.

God’s Spirit gave him word, and he lived as though fused to it, unrelenting in his grip on this hope. This one thing.

And so when his hope, his Hope, entered the temple in the arms of His mother, Simeon knew.

He took God in his arms and in that one moment knew what — Who – he held.

His eyes fixed on this one thing, he could not miss the arrival of the One. And his life spent on this one thing, he desired nothing more on earth.

You now dismiss Your servant in peace. In that one moment he realized his one thing, and he was done.

All for which he lived, complete.

Fulfilled.

He had enough.

And he felt free to go.

::

Oh, Father. Let me spend myself on one thing, and one thing only. May I recognize You at first glance. And on seeing You, may I too see that You are enough.