She was my Grandfather's sister. Aunt Ellen had always been a kind and generous presence in my childhood, so when my Mother told me she was on her death bed I went to visit her.
She looked so small and frail in her hospital bed. I wasn't sure if she would know who I was or not, but when our eyes met I knew she did. She told me to pull a chair up next to her bed, then she reached out and took my hand. "Sarah, my mother always hoped that she would live to see the return of Christ. When she died she passed the hope to me. Now I pass this torch of hope to you. Live your life with the anticipation that Jesus may return in your lifetime."
This morning I was reading to my grandson about Simeon. "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. 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." (Luke 2:25,26) We read how he had come in the Spirit to the temple on the very day Joseph and Mary had brought Jesus.
I told Jack that when Jesus had ascended into Heaven angels had appeared and had told the disciples that this very same Jesus would return in like fashion. I have carried this torch of anticipation all my life, and now it was my turn to share it with the next generation. "Jack, Jesus is coming back again. Simeon was there is see Him the first time Jesus came. Perhaps you will be alive when Jesus returns. Live your life with this anticipation."
Lord Jesus, I am reminded of what You said in the last chapter of Revelation, "'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come Lord Jesus!"(Revelation 22:20)
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