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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Hello, thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse,

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Speaker 2: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn

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Speaker 2: more about God and his will for us. I'm your host,

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Speaker 2: Carol McCracken, and after a short word from our sponsor,

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Speaker 2: we'll continue with our Edmund series experiencing Christ this Christmas

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Speaker 2: with the discussion on Luke two thirty eight. Today's Bible

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Speaker 2: Verse is Luke two thirty eight coming up to them.

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Speaker 2: At that very moment, she gave thanks to God and

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Speaker 2: spoke about the child to all who are looking forward

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Speaker 2: to the redemption of Jerusalem. Before we look at the passage,

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Speaker 2: I'm brought back to Christmas Eve and Decatur, Alabama. At

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Speaker 2: that grandparents' house. They have this refinished attic where my

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Speaker 2: two brothers and I slept every year, and I could

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Speaker 2: never fall asleep. My middle brother Steve would drift off first,

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Speaker 2: breathing deeply loudly, and since I was used to my

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Speaker 2: own room, it bugged me. My other brother, Bill was

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Speaker 2: already passed out further down the attic. He could sleep anywhere,

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Speaker 2: which was even more annoying. The whole room was pitch

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Speaker 2: black and quiet, and the only thing keeping me awake

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Speaker 2: was pure anticipation. I wanted morning to hurry up. I

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Speaker 2: wanted the surprises waiting under the tree. I didn't wait well,

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Speaker 2: but I waited expectantly, And looking back, I realized something simple.

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Speaker 2: I never waited in vain. The only annoyance was the

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Speaker 2: slowness of the night. As I got older, that expectancy

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Speaker 2: matured into something deeper, knowing that the best gifts were

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Speaker 2: wrapped that even now, if I'm honest, I still get distracted.

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Speaker 2: I still lose focus right at the moment. But when

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Speaker 2: I should be leaning in spiritually, staying awake to see

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Speaker 2: what Jesus is doing, I can find myself waiting passively

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Speaker 2: when God invites me to wait purposefully, thankfully. Jesus is

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Speaker 2: with us now here, even when our attention drifts. In

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Speaker 2: Luke two, we meet someone who waited with that kind

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Speaker 2: of purposeful expectancy. Her name is Anna, an elderly prophetess

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Speaker 2: who spent decades worshiping, fasting, and praying in the temple.

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Speaker 2: Widowed after only seven years of marriage, she devoted the

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Speaker 2: rest of her life to God in ways that the

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Speaker 2: world may have overlooked, but Heaven never did. Verse thirty

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Speaker 2: eight tells us coming up to them. At that very moment,

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Speaker 2: she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child

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Speaker 2: to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

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Speaker 2: That phrase at that very moment matters in Greek. It

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Speaker 2: conveys precise, divinely orchestrated timing and its stumble into this encounter.

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Speaker 2: God brought her into the path of Jesus at exactly

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Speaker 2: the right moment. If you're listening today on Christmas Eve,

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Speaker 2: that's significant because Christmas Eve is full of the kind

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Speaker 2: of longing Anna embodied and aching, leaning in readiness, the candles,

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Speaker 2: the carols, the scriptures, the sense that Heaven is nearer

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Speaker 2: than we realized. Luke tells us Anna immediately gave thanks,

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Speaker 2: then began to tell others about the child, specifically those

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Speaker 2: looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. That phrase looking

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Speaker 2: forward uses the Greek for meaning to wait eagerly, expectantly

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Speaker 2: on tiptoe with hope. Not passive waiting, not distracted waiting,

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Speaker 2: not wake me up when it's overwaiting, but the kind

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Speaker 2: of alert, hope filled the anticipation that leans forward. This

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Speaker 2: is the heart of advent. It's what I longed for.

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Speaker 2: It's a child lying away awaken the attic in Decatur,

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Speaker 2: knowing something good with coming, even if morning felt slow.

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Speaker 2: And it's what I sometimes lose as an adult when

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Speaker 2: my mind is noisy, my schedule's full, and Jesus feels

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Speaker 2: easier to overlook than to look for. But Anna teaches

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Speaker 2: us that experiencing Christ happens most often when we posture

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Speaker 2: our hearts towards him with expectancy, when we look for him,

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Speaker 2: when we stay awake spiritually, when we get thanks, and

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Speaker 2: when we tell others what we've seen. And tonight, of

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Speaker 2: all nights, Christmas Eve, this truth settles in freshly. Christ

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Speaker 2: is here, Hope is here, Redemption is already drawn there.

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Speaker 2: You don't wait in vain, And even when your attention drifts,

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Speaker 2: Jesus doesn't. He comes close. He comes gently, He comes

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Speaker 2: with purpose, and he still reveals himself to those who

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Speaker 2: look forward to his redemption. So tonight Paul's long enough

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Speaker 2: to lean in again, whisper thanks like Anna, notice his

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Speaker 2: nearness and sharing with someone else, because the world is

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Speaker 2: full of people still waiting for redemption. He has come.

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Speaker 2: Will you pray with me, dear Lord and Heaven.

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Speaker 1: I thank you so much for this advent series that

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Speaker 1: we got to do that reminds us of preparation, of waiting,

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Speaker 1: of anticipation, and that there were people that have done

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Speaker 1: it since the New Testament days, with Anna and Zachariiaan

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Speaker 1: all those that we've mentioned.

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Speaker 2: Help us to do the same. We celebrate your birth.

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Speaker 2: We celebrate that you came into this world as a

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Speaker 2: human for us, and that you're near your very name,

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Speaker 2: a Manuel. You're with us.

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Speaker 1: Help us not to lose track of that in this busy,

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Speaker 1: distracted world.

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Speaker 2: Help us to wait expectantly, Help us.

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Speaker 1: To model how Anna did it, and help us to

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Speaker 1: tell others about what you have done.

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Speaker 2: For us and your precious name. We pray Amen,