Day 2 of Advent - Monday, December 3

Day 2 of Advent - Monday, December 3

Luke 1: 68-75 - Anticipation

    “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.”

 (Luke 1:68-69)

  In the verses before this passage, we find that Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, was to have a child. The child’s father, Zechariah, was given this good news by the angel, Gabriel, however, Zechariah didn’t believe him. Because of his unbelief, Zechariah was struck dumb. He couldn’t speak a work during the whole time Elizabeth was with child. When the child was born, Elizabeth announced that his name would be John and all the community was shocked since normally he would be named after his father. When the people gestured to Zechariah about this, he wrote on a tablet, “His name will be John.” Immediately, his speech returned to him and he began to praise God and prophesy to all around. The passage for today is his song of praise.

  Have you ever felt God was telling you something that you thought was the silliest thing you had ever heard? Like telling Moses that he would lead the Israelites out of Egypt? Like revealing to David that he would become King? Like telling a young girl that she would become the mother of the Messiah. God’s Son!

  I think that Zechariah probably missed out on a lot of the excitement and the anticipation of his coming son. He wasn’t able to tell their neighbors how things were progressing. He wasn’t able to tell Elizabeth how much he loved her. He wasn’t able to tell people what they needed for baby gifts. Nothing. He couldn’t say anything and I think that writing out on a tablet probably got frustrating, so he just quit trying. But, when the day arrived and Zechariah actually saw his son and accepted God’s plan, his speech was restored and he could praise God with all his strength.

  When we feel God is telling us about something that may be coming up in our future, we need to trust Him so that we can anticipate what is to come. Like we anticipate gifts, present and food on Christmas morning. But, especially as we anticipate the birth of Christ.

Spend some quiet time with God today.