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DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

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Luke 1:57-58

57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

NIV

A relatively simple statement about having a baby. The Scripture does not make a big fanfare out of the birth of this boy who will be a great man among men, a man called by God to prepare the people for Jesus. But the truth within this moment in time has a twofold point. The first is that her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and the second is they shared her joy. Here is our life lesson. In order for her neighbors and relatives to hear how the Lord had shown her great mercy, someone, and we must conclude it was Elizabeth, had to tell them about what happened to her. That is to say Elizabeth did not go into hiding because she was pregnant in her old age. She lived her life out loud in front of her neighbors and relatives, letting them know her pregnancy was because of the hand of God. We should live in that manner, making sure that people around us know the hand of the Lord has shown us his great mercy. We can’t do that if we are complainers. It does not matter what we complain about, whether it is the weather, some aches and pains, the church, someone we work with, or whatever, when we complain we are not sharing or showing the great mercy of God in our lives. The second point here or life lesson is that when someone we know has something wonderful happen to them and are very joyful because of it, we should share in that joy. This implies that we are actually glad for them. It also implies that we have absolutely no envy, no jealously, especially after we go back home away from our friend who is filled with joy because of the hand of the Lord. We should not be thinking or wondering why God doesn’t do that for us. This event was about Elizabeth and her neighbors and relatives shared her joy. They were genuinely glad for her. This is how we should be when our friends and relatives experience a good thing. In both lessons here the key word is share. Share our life with others that they might see the hand of God in our life, and share in another persons joy when the hand of God is displayed in them. Share