John the Baptist
Today we celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist.
The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him. - Luke 1:57-66
Elizabeth and Zechariah surprised everyone by calling the baby John. The name John means "YAHWEH is gracious." And that is a good acknowledgement, since Elizabeth was thought to be too old to conceive.
It may seem odd to us that a couple who se desperately wanted a child would so willingly offer the child up to God to do God's work. But what greater joy is there than to please God?
John was given a special gift and his parents were quick to support him using that gift to do God's work.
What do we parents want for our children today? Is it to go off into the wilderness and eat berries, talking of salvation?
Probably not.
We want hem to be successful, to have a good life, to not want for anything, but to gain everything good. That sounds very materialistic, doesn't it?
If only an angel appeared to us before the birth of our children to let us know how special the children are in God's eyes, we might have a different take on what constitutes a good life.
God is gracious. He grants his grace to all regardless of merit or action.
Maybe He wants us to look into the eyes of our children and see Him.
Then we might have a different understanding of what is success in their lives.
More to come...