My eyes have seen your salvation. You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples — a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2:30-32)
Simeon knew about salvation before — he was “looking forward to Israel’s consolation” — but now he’s actually experiencing salvation. He says “I’ve seen it!” It’s one thing to know about the power, love, and grace of Jesus. It’s another thing to experience it.
Many Christians have an intellectual relationship with God. We know a lot of things about God, but we never really experience God. We know about salvation, election, regeneration, justification, and sanctification, but we haven’t had much of an experience of salvation. We don’t experience God’s love on an everyday basis.
That’s why Paul prayed in 2 Thessalonians 3, “May the Lord direct your hearts to God’s love.” He was talking to some of the strongest Christians alive, but he still had to pray for their hearts to be directed to God’s love because we don’t always experience God’s love. That’s why we need to pursue God’s love every day, so we can experience our salvation every day.
There are daily habits you can pursue to experience your salvation: read or listen to his Word, list the blessings you’ve received in the last 24 hours, sing praise songs in the car, spend time with a few strong believers, tell the story of your salvation to an unbelieving friend.
Don’t be content to have salvation as a theory. Pursue it as an experience!