January 17 | Luke 2:22-40
- Todd Marti
- Jan 17, 2025
- 2 min read
Daily Reading
The Extraordinary Through The Ordinary
By Todd Marti
This week’s readings have described some extraordinary ways God moved to redeem us. He enabled an elderly couple to conceive and raise John the Baptist. He caused the very young, unwed, Virgin Mary to divinely conceive our savior. He provided powerful ratification to her through a host of angels and the shepherds they sent to her. Those were truly extraordinary events.
Today’s reading shows that God also moves through the ordinary. He provided Mary and Joseph much needed ratification in challenging times through an ordinary spiritual discipline. He did that through Simeon, who was responsive to God's special direction.
What can we learn from that? Two things come to mind.
One is the importance of adhering to spiritual disciplines despite upheaval in our lives. Think about Mary and Joseph’s situation. They were effectively homeless, with a newborn, in a strange city, separated from their families, and they had been in that situation for about 40 days. That must have been very hard. See What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Nativity: Mary and Joseph’s Journey to Bethlehem and Jesus’ Birth There (Luke 2:1-7) and What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Nativity: Jesus’ Circumcision and Presentation; Mary’s Purification (Luke 2:21-24) Yet they still made it to the temple, where they received great ratification. Their perseverance in an ordinary discipline was key to their receiving that ratification. Your situation is probably not as extreme as theirs, and God’s response will likely not be as extraordinary as that described in today’s reading, but it is likely that God will provide some comfort in your chaos if you keep seeking Him in the ordinary.
The other is to obey God’s prompts. I doubt Simeon expected the events that happened that day, but they happened because he responded to God’s nudge. Simeon was able to speak what God wanted Mary and Joseph to hear because he responded to the Holy Spirit’s particular prompts on that particular day. He, Mary, Joseph, and billions of other folks since then have been blessed in ways Simeon could not possibly have anticipated—because he followed the Spirit’s lead. Who knows what blessings will be set in motion by your doing so too.
There is much more we can learn from this reading than space permits exploring here. Some of those things are discussed at What We Can Learn From Jesus’ Nativity: Simeon Blesses Mary (Luke 2:25-35) and What We Can Learn From Jesus' Nativity: Anna Ratifies Jesus (Luke 2:36-38). Maybe they will provide one of the prompts I was just talking about.
God bless you, and others through you.
PRAYER
Lord, thank you for reaching out to us in so many ways. Help us to reach out to you through the ordinary disciplines you provide and to respond when you prompt us to action. We pray that in Jesus’ name. Amen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TODD MARTI
I have been connected to UALC since 2000 in various small groups and as a co-manager of the UALC Community Garden. I’m married to Kelly Marti, and the proud father of Sarah Marti. I am happy to be writing these devotions.
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