Have you ever noticed that in the Bible things are often repeated? Some things are repeated because, for generations, the Torah (Old Testament) was passed down orally and it’s easier to memorize and pass along when things are repetitive. Other times, situations are repeated because while they may have memorized a verse, they didn’t take things to heart. If you have ever been a part of a house church before and while on the question: “What do we learn about God?” someone responded with: “God is Faithful”, “God has a plan”, or “God loves us”. You might have sighed or rolled your eyes because those answers aren’t new. But those are the truths we need to take to heart because in order for us to have faith during the hard times we have to accept those truths fully.
Why am I talking about repetition? Well, because without repetition we don’t learn the lesson we were meant to learn. In January I wrote about the Woman at the Well and how when she met Jesus, she took that encounter and told everyone that the Messiah had come. And again today, I’m here to show you the example of a woman who loved God and was one of the first to set the example of spreading the good news of Christ’s coming: Anna the Prophetess.
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“Coming up to [Joseph, Mary, and Jesus] that very moment, she gave thanks to God and Spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38)
The moment Anna saw Jesus, she knew Him, the woman spent 83 years praying to and praising God. Why wouldn’t she recognize the Lord in the flesh? And what did she do with that knowledge? She told all that she saw about the small baby who was God in the flesh.
Anna is one of those amazing people you can’t help but admire. She was so different from other women at the time that Luke called her a Prophetess. In case you were wondering, a prophet is defined as: A person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God. I believe that even though Anna wasn’t able to meet God in the Tabernacle. She was privileged to meet Him in that court yard that day. I love that she couldn’t contain herself and told everyone she met, that the Redeemer had come at last. In John 1:4 it says,
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
God blessed Anna that day by giving her a chance to meet Himself, in person. But what was her first instinct? To praise God for the gift he had sent and to talk to everyone she encountered that the Redeemer had finally come to save them all.
Like a broken record, I want to encourage each of you to be bold, be different, be crazy for Jesus. Follow Anna’s example and do more than just passively worship and pray. Get out there and share with people what Jesus has done for you and what He can do for them.
Bethany Thomas is the Publicity Coordinator and a contributing writer for Shaken & Stirred. She is a daughter of God, a wife, and a dog mom. When not writing for the blog, you are most likely to find her reading a fantasy novel or crafting at her home in Sapulpa, OK.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash