Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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 Annunciation to Zechariah

St. Luke 1: 5-23

v. 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 call him John.”

It has come to the time, where we as the Church prepare ourselves for the feast of the Nativity, otherwise known as Christmas.  Although the advent season begins on December 1, we as a Church prepare for Christmas from the Sunday following the Hudos Eetho or Sunday of Dedication of the Church. On this Sunday we commemorate the annunciation to Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist by the angel Gabriel.
 
This struck as a surprise to Zechariah who question how this can be possible as he and his wife were old.  Through human understanding, we can understand their surprise and doubt.  It seemed to be humanly impossible, but one thing is for certain as we all always hear the words “for God, nothing is impossible”.  Yes, we pray this, and we encourage our brothers and sisters these same words when they are struggling in life, but how much do we believe this?  It is easier said than done right?  This was a lesson Zechariah had to learn for himself.  When we look at v. 13, we can see Zechariah had been praying for a child for a long time, and suddenly after many years later, his prayers were finally heard yet, he had trouble grasping it.  This teaches us that when we pray, we not only need to ask in faith but also receive in faith as well.
 
God answers prayer in His own way and in His own time.  We should persevere in our prayers and seek God’s will and His time over our will and our time.  We need to learn to surrender ourselves wholeheartedly to God.  We must also accept that God will work unexpectedly in our lives and that is only possible for us to believe so if we trust Him.  Our trust in Him only grows through constantly walking with Him.
 
May the preparations we have for Christmas time guide us to abide in Him as we celebrate the birth of Jesus who is called Immanuel “God with us”.
 
 

Prayer
Triune God, thank you Lord for Your love for us, guide us to trust You, and earnestly pray for Your divine will in our lives, not in our time, but in Your time.  In Christ’s name, we pray, Amen.


Thought for the Day
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28



Rev. Jess M. George
Youth Chaplain, North-East Region

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