God is so good to give us “a second chance” with our acts of faith. I often remind people, God just gives believers more tests, because complete failure is not an option. He is our Champion and he just keeps spurring us on to victory. He wants glory for us. God is with you; failure is not your image! Do we fail at using our faith to live in righteousness? Yes, sometimes we do, but we do not quit. We press on to the high call of our Savior.
In our passage, today, Zechariah gets a second chance to be a champion of the faith. At first, Zechariah does not believe the angel Gabriel’s message about Elizabeth giving birth to a son, so he is struck mute. When the baby is born, Zechariah has the opportunity to speak faith. He makes a decision to be obedient and faithful; not to make the same mistake. When Zechariah is asked to share the name of the child, he breaks tradition—instead of naming the child after himself—he writes on a tablet, “His name is John!” Immediately, Zechariah can speak once again. Joy erupts in the house, because God is pleased with his heart!
Our obedience is the foundation of our joy; because joy is the fruit of the Spirit and the work of faith. When we produce spiritual fruit, God is pleased and we sense him rejoicing and singing over us. Our hearts overflow when God is pleased with us!
Luke 1:57-66 NLT The Birth of John the Baptist
57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. 58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John!”
61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for this lesson from the life of Zechariah. Thank you for your mercy when we don’t rise to obey you; and thank you for helping us move beyond those momentary failures into victory. Our faith is in you alone and we call for the work of the Helper to keep us obediently producing the fruit of joy. We know the joy of the Lord is our strength! In Jesus’ name. Amen.