JOSEPH, and Mary the mother of Jesus, stayed in Bethlehem for a while. When Jesus was only eight days old he received his name; he was called “Jesus,” as the angel had told Mary. It was the custom of the Jews to take their first son to the temple and present him to God, so Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem to present Jesus to God in the temple.

At the time when Jesus was born, there was an old man, named Simeon, living in Jerusalem. He was a good man and was looking and wishing for Jesus, the promised Messiah, to come. God’s Holy Spirit had told him that he should not die until he had seen Jesus. Simeon went up to the temple to worship God every day. One day while he was in the temple Mary and Joseph brought the child to present him to God. When Simeon saw them he knew that the infant in Mary’s arms was his Savior. He at once took Jesus in his arms, and with a heart full of joy he blessed God and said, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.” He had seen the Savior for whom he looked, and had nothing more to wish; he was perfectly satisfied to die, now that he had seen Jesus, the Savior of the world. When Jesus comes into our hearts we are satisfied, and not only ready to die, but we are ready to live and do with glad hearts all that God wishes us to do. The best way to praise God for his wonderful gift is to live for him and lead others to praise him.

God’s Spirit was upon Simeon, and he rejoiced to see Jesus his Savior, whom God had sent to his people. Do you wonder that Simeon’s heart was full of joy at seeing God’s greatest gift to man? Should not we praise him for it?

At the time of Jesus’ birth, the world was very dark and sinful. People did not know much about God or what he wanted them to do. In Jesus, Simeon saw a great Light which would lighten the world.

Did you ever try to walk in a dark night where there were no lights to shine on the pathway? If so, you were sure to go the wrong road, or to stumble and fall. While you were walking in the darkness, did a great electric light suddenly shine out, making all light about you? So into the dark lives of the people Jesus came to be a Light. We are sure that Jesus is a Light to us and to all the world. He lived a holy life, so he made a right path for us to follow. He showed us how to live and how to die, so that we may live forever in heaven. If we take his love into our hearts and do as he tells us, we shall walk in the light. Just as a railway locomotive runs in the great light from the lamp that sends its bright rays along the track, so Jesus dwelling in our hearts shines his light just where we are to travel—that is, he tells us by his Spirit and by his Word how we are to act and what we are to do.

While Mary and Joseph and Jesus were yet in the temple, Anna, a prophetess, came in and saw Jesus. Then she, too, praised the Lord because Jesus had come to be a Light to the world. She told the people that Jesus was the Son of God who had come into this world to live in our hearts and be our Light. Jesus in our hearts is like a torchlight which we carry with us always, and which never goes out, but gives us light wherever we go. We follow this light when we do the things that Jesus taught us to do, and when we follow the example that he left us.