A WORD FOR TODAY, November 8, 2024
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, November 8, 2024
“There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day. Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.” Luke 2:36-38, WEB
Anna was a devoted prophetess. She was extremely old; depending on how the Greek is translated she was at least eighty-four but was more likely over one hundred years. She had not left the Temple for decades, at the very least half a century, and had worshipped God daily.
We live in a world that can barely pay attention for more than a few minutes. Researchers have found that unless a web developer catches a surfer’s attention, they will not stay on a page for more than 10-20 seconds. The surfers stay only long enough to read a fraction of the text and then they click through to the next page. We can’t sit still. We can’t pay attention. We do not want to do anything that takes too long because there’s always something better to do somewhere else.
Unfortunately, this is true in our faith lives, too. One of the biggest struggles of worship teams is planning worship that fits into a specific time period. Sometimes this is because the schedule demands it; another service or Sunday school begins immediately following and there is no room for flexibility. Sadly, the rush to finish is often demanded by the members of the congregation. They need the service to be only an hour because they want to get to the diner before the crowds. We are no better at our prayer lives, rushing through our devotional time because there is something else we need to do. We settle for popcorn prayers, the kind that pops up in our minds as we are busy with our daily lives. We skim over daily bible readings, if we even find the time to open our book.
Anna lived a life we can’t possibly imagine. It was a different world, of course, but even then people were rushing around, taking care of their business and families. Worship was different although I’m sure there were at least a few who were impatient with the time spent without accomplishing anything tangible. After all, we are all human and not much has changed under the sun. There were probably those who did not understand how Anna could live in the Temple and worship constantly. She had a special gift, and I don’t think her life is the kind of life God is calling most of us to live. We are put in the world to glorify Him with whatever work we are gifted to do.
We can learn from Anna’s life, though. We may not live in the Temple and pray constantly, but her story reminds us that we should slow down and spend more time with God. She knew that Jesus was the Promised One because God had written it on her heart. Can we recognize the blessings before us when we are so busy rushing from one place to another, throwing quick prayers and grabbing brief glimpses of His grace? She was in the right place at the right time to witness the promise fulfilled and then she was so thankful that she took the Good News to others. Are we thankful enough to do the same?
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org