Isaiah 29:6, “Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.”
Luke 2:25-30, “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,…”
Growing up in Georgia, my mama would often check the cleanliness and order of my bedroom. A visit from mama was a regular thing. I never had to say, “mama, check my room and see how I’m doing.” She just took it upon herself to inspect at any time and it was understood that she had the right to do so. If I was not home, I would quickly be informed on how she felt about my cleanliness. If I had everything clean and in order, nothing would be said and I would find clean clothes in my closet and drawers. But if my room was a cluttered mess (which happened a lot), she would tell me I needed to straighten up the room.
In our two study verses we read about two different times of visitation from the Lord. The first was a prophecy in the days of Isaiah of a time when the Lord would visit in judgment. Israel had not kept house as God commanded. The second was when the Lord Jesus Christ was but a babe in His perfect humanity. It was a man named Simeon who enjoyed the visit and rejoiced to see the Lord.
Question: If the Lord visited each one of us today, what would it be like? Would the Lord come in judgment because we have not obeyed His commands, or would He come and find us laboring diligently to keep things in order?
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is our every day challenge. Everyday we should “Examine ourselves” ( 2 Corinthians 13:5), and labor to be better than we were the day before. I will confess, it’s a full time job for me, but the Lord is beyond worthy of our efforts. Today, and every day, we should labor to follow the examples of Acts 3:19, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” and Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Amen!