Because You, I Will

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

BECAUSE YOU I WILL

Luke 1:11-17

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.   16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

NIV

Granted John was a very special person, planned by God to be the one who prepares the way for the Lord. Granted this required a special visitation from an angel to Zechariah in order to tell him what was going to occur. We also know that both Zechariah and his wife walked blameless or upright before the Lord and this is most likely the reason the Lord chose them to be the parents of John. It is also possible God chose them due to the fact they were well along in years and this birth would be outside the realm of human ability and thus giving another special significance to John. The angel made it very clear as to the type of personality John would be and how he would live his life. This could be our life lesson within this narrative. First we can be assured our prayers will be answered, at least that would seem right if we are walking upright before the Lord. It would make sense that if we are not walking upright before the Lord there would be no reason to expect an answer to prayer. We have seen the Lord turn a deaf ear to the children of Israel when the acted without or rebelled against his command when they marched on the Amorites and lost. We know that if anyone turns a deaf ear to the Law their prayers are detestable. Here we see prayers being answered because they walked upright before the Lord. Should we expect any less? If we desire an answer to our prayers we should ensure we are walking upright before the Lord. Now that it is true we are in Christ. We have Jesus, but that does not mean we are walking upright. There is some effort on our part to make every effort to live in peace with all men. There is some effort on our part to live in a manner that pleases God. We cannot be as the Gnostics who separated the spirit and the body, who believed as long as their spirit was pure before God, they could do whatever they pleased with their body. There is some effort to walk upright before God. Walking in faith, believing, trusting in him, living as if he is actually God, our maker, which is the second lesson. Just as he knew all about who John would be and his personality, he also knew us before we were born. He knew all about us, who we would be and our personality. He choose our parents, our lifestyle, how we would be raised and what kind of people we would be. He knew which one of us would choose to live for him, and which one of us would reject him, but he still knew us all before we were born and knew who we would be. This is the greatest of our God who we serve. How can we not walk upright before him? How can we not desire our prayers to be answered? Here may be one of those because, you I will.