There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and was a widow for 84 years. She did not leave the temple complex, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. - Luke 2:36-37
Anna, advancing in years (probably more than 100), spent the last half of her life in and around the Temple in Jerusalem waiting and seeking the "Consolation of Israel" in hopes of His imminent incarnation. Christ indeed came and it could not have been long after the encounter that Anna departed this world. Was it a life well spent?
What is it that you seek? Where are you spending your life? For whom are you living?
These are the questions that will ultimately determine the course of a person's life, and possibly haunt it at its culmination. The truth is that if you seek comfort and consolation, you can find both in Christ. If you desire significance, then you can spend your life in the Lord's service and achieve it. If love, friendship, and companionship are certain cravings of your soul, then you can meet the Savior of the world and embrace all three.
Anna did. You can.
This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it. - Richard Baxter
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