April 29
"From among the faithful in Israel, who had long waited for the coming of the Messiah, the forerunner of Christ arose. The aged priest Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth were "both righteous before God;" and in their quiet and holy lives the light of faith shone out like a star amid the darkness of those evil days. To this godly pair was given the promise of a son, who should "go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways."
Zacharias dwelt in "the hill country of Judea," but he had gone up to Jerusalem to minister for one week in the temple, a service required twice a year from the priests of each course. "And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord."
Desire of Ages, page 98 from the chapter, 'The voice in the wilderness'
We are onto a new chapter and onto the life of John the Baptist. At first we meet his father, the aged priest. Most of us can work out what happens next, or we know because we have read the story before – but for those who need a reminder – Zacharias is about to meet an angel.
I’m not so sure I could deal with an angel in full angelic wardrobe, but Zacharias could. But why does he get the privilege?
God needed someone to blaze the trail before Jesus could be revealed as the Messiah. God could have chosen anyone, but as they say, “location, location, location”. God needs to find the right man in the right place. Zacharias is the man of choice. But note the character of the man, “The aged priest Zacharias and his wife Elisabeth were "both righteous before God;" and in their quiet and holy lives the light of faith shone out like a star amid the darkness of those evil days.”
Could you be such a person? Could you therefore be the person God chooses for a special task?
Have you heard of Marvin Morrow? Singing one of his own songs, ‘The touch of the Master’ Marvin Morrow sings country gospel. I like it – thank you Bryn. Please click on the picture to listen.
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Assume you can do no miracles. You might even assume that you have no spiritual gifts, though of course you do. Now reconsider the words from our reading, “None could say that He had worked a miracle”. Jesus spent thirty years simply being a faithful church member and did no miracle.
What we do find is that Jesus healed without using miracles. “His words had a soothing balm.”
It is Sunday today. You might choose to do an act of random kindness today, on the other hand you might also decide that you are going to heal somebody today with some soothing words. To do that make a simple plan.
The first element in the plan is for you to invite the Holy Spirit into your life. The second element is to choose the person you would like to heal. The third element in your master plan is to work out the words – and then finally go out and use those healing words to do something special.
