Luke 1:13-17 - But the angel said to
him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and
your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And
you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will
be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he
will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will
turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go
before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready
for the Lord a people prepared."
One
life, one person sent from God can have an amazing and powerful impact.
Zacharias is told that many people will be impacted by the arrival and the
eventual ministry of this child. John’s life was to be characterized by a
fullness of the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. Children are never
too young to experience God’s presence. They know Him. God is the Father of
spirits. We, as parents, simply father their flesh, but God breathes a living
spirit into every little babe in the womb. He never gives life without also
giving purpose and destiny. Every babe comes into this world with a purpose
from God. It is our responsibility to provide the environment whereby children
can be nurtured and protected and learn to develop their own relationship with
the Lord, thereby discovering their own God-given identity and destiny.
The influence of John, as described by the
angel, was no doubt staggering to Zacharias. How could this little child become
so influential? We see a seed, but God sees a tree, or better yet, God sees
orchards of trees bearing much fruit, and containing multiplied seeds within.
God wants us to be able to see way beyond our present years and circumstances,
to see into the future, to get a long-term vision for our lives and for those
of our family. Can we see our children and our grandchildren being vessels for
the mighty things for God and bearing fruit for generations to come? Can we
envision them being a huge blessing; an example and a help to all those that
know them? According to Isaiah 54:13, ‘All our children shall be taught of the
Lord and great shall be the peace of our children’. All of them, not some of
them, not, maybe a few of them, No! All of our children shall be disciples of
the Lord, personally taught and fathered by God Himself.
John was going to have a powerful gift and
anointing from God to be able to turn people back to God. To turn something is
to set the course of it and to propel momentum in a certain direction. Are we
able to get people moving in a certain direction? Can we lead them and
influence them to make choices which will cause their lives and their
circumstances to change dramatically? That power does not reside in us, but
there is the empowering grace of God in our lives that gives us an ability to
turn people and influence them toward the will and plan of God.
Just as Elijah was a powerful force for
God, so John was to have a similar spirit and comparable power. This power will
be used to ‘turn’ the hearts of the fathers to the children. Notice it is the
fathers that are responsible to turn their hearts first. Fathers, do not look
for your children to turn towards you, you and I must turn our hearts toward
them. Take the initiative and reach out to your children, thereby demonstrating
that your heart is for them, and that you are not judging them. Everything we
do as parents is for our children. That is why we must keep walking and working
and waiting on God. We cannot quit or be discouraged because we have children and
grandchildren to influence and to pray for. Why would the heart of any father
be turned away from his children to begin with? One of the ways that a father
may turn his heart away from his children is when he begins to think that he is
not valued. This world mocks and devalues and denigrates fathers. It says we
don’t need fathers, they are simply for procreation and then perhaps, for
financial provision, but other than that we don’t need them. This world, with
its bankrupt philosophies, tells fathers that children really don’t need them.
Just leave the child-rearing to your wife, they say. Obviously moms are hugely
important and even the world never really argues against a mom. We
instinctively know that we need her and we prize our moms, but fathers for some
reason are said to be optional. Awake, Fathers, shake off the drowsiness of
this lie and reclaim your noble place! Your children need you. Your
grandchildren need you. Your family needs you. The church needs you. The world
needs you. ‘Watch, stand fast in the faith; act like men. Be strong!’
The disobedient or unbelieving ones do not
see their need to change or turn direction. They do not see that the righteous
have any valid wisdom. The disobedient, quite often, may even have a note of
scoffing or mocking in their stance. The world likes to think that they already
have wisdom and that the church certainly doesn’t have it. The unbelieving,
disobedient mockers think that the church is foolish. Unbelief hardens us to
God and to His voice, which is true wisdom. The disobedient have a faulty heart
attitude. It is an issue of posture and approach. Disobedience is another word
for unbelief, and can also be translated unpersuadable, which is a conscious
decision, a refusal to believe or be persuaded. This mind-set is illustrated by
Thomas when he said emphatically, ‘Except I see…I will not believe’. Later
Jesus responded to Thomas when he showed him his hands and his side and said,
‘Be not faithless, but believing’, in other words, it is a choice to believe. I
like the way that Hannah Whitall Smith puts it in one of her books, ‘put your
will then over on the believing side…insist upon believing, in the face of
every suggestion of doubt that intrudes itself.’ The Lord sends people into our
lives to influence and turn our attitude to one of pliability and humility
towards God. If we humble ourselves, faith is never an issue and we will
appreciate and prioritize the wisdom of walking in God’s way of righteousness.
Be
encouraged, my friends, even though Zacharias and Elizabeth experienced delay
and disappointment, they were not forgotten by God. God had heard their prayer
and He came specifically to them and assured them of His promise. Even so
today, God has not forgotten any of us. Hold on to the promises of God in His
Word and watch Him bring it to pass!
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