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It’s always good to see such an awesome, otherworldly, hard-to-define quality like godlinesslived out and fleshed out in other women. After all, as the saying instructs us, “One picture is worth a thousand words!” So take a look at Anna. Her story is found in Luke 2:36-38.
Luke’s words paint a poignant picture of this dear woman. From him we learn that Anna was an “older woman.” An 84-year-old woman (“of a great age,” explains Luke), Anna was widowed after only seven years of marriage. And Anna shows us what it’s like to live in a constant state of worship. What does a woman do who loves the Lord and is a widow? Well, our Anna devoted herself to the continual service of God and of His temple. She was a constant, faithful worshiper — not a casual attender or observer.
Anna lived her life in the temple.Anna’s life could have been a long, sad, and lonely one. But she filled it with glorious service to God. She centered her days on the temple, the worship of God, and the people who exalted Him there.
Anna lived her life in prayer and fasting. Both prayer and fasting are personal disciplines — quiet disciplines — that require commitment, dedication, self-control, and consecration to God. Anna devoted herself to these quiet disciplines and to a quiet, serious life of loving and worshiping God.
Anna lived her life in anticipation of the Savior. Anna looked for the Christ…and was blessed to see the baby Jesus when He was brought into the temple for the first time, to praise God for Him, and to speak of Jesus to all who entered the temple.
Can you imagine any more wonderful way to spend your life and your time and your days and your moments than to spend them in the Lord, immersed in Him, looking to Him, desiring Him beyond all that this poor world offers? You are most blessed to possess such a glorious calling.
The first step toward any noble goal is to desire it. And the “godliest” goal you can have in life is to set your affections on becoming this woman the Bible exalts so highly — a woman whose whole soul is absorbed in worshiping Him.
RESPOND
Dear Lord, I pray my life honors You and reflects the quality of godliness to others. May I use my time to Your glory. Amen.
RENEWING RESOURCES
A Woman’s High Calling – Elizabeth shares the simple steps a woman can take to make these essentials a joyous reality—
REFLECT
Do I devote myself to the quiet disciplines of fasting and prayer?
REMEMBER
We’re to be constant, faithful worshipers — not casual attenders or observers.
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Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
Jim and Elizabeth George are bestselling authors and national speakers dedicated to helping people live a life after God’s own heart. Together, they have written over 150 books with more than 14 million copies sold around the world. For over 35 years, the teachings and steadfast example of Elizabeth and Jim have helped countless men and women:
When something difficult happens in your life, are you ever tempted to ask, “What good could come out of this?” The event looks like a disaster. It feels like a disaster. Therefore, we quickly conclude, it is a disaster! But God did not forget His people who were suffering in Babylon. And, my friend, He won’t forget you!
Too many times in the past I’ve told others “I’m fine” in order to hide my pain and sorrows from them. The truth is, my thoughts pulled me down so far that, in private, tears regularly streamed down my face. Are you constantly thinking negative thoughts? Being a woman after God’s own heart is all about “minding your mind.”
As a young mother, I endeavored to “train a child in the way he should go,” so that “when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). A decade later, however, I wasn’t reaping the results I had expected. Angrily, I said to God, “But this isn’t the way it was supposed to be! This isn’t the way it went for this family here or that family over there. And this isn’t the way it was supposed to be for my family!”