Luke 1: 5-25

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

Reading for   October 2, 2012      Page 9-10     Luke 1: 5-25

In today’s reading, Jesus tells how the Angel of the Lord announced the coming birth of his cousin, John the Baptist. There is “good news / bad news / good news” for us in this account. There is good news because Gabriel reveals that God is proactively involved in the lives of his people to bring about the redemption of humankind. We are not a people without hope. God is in our midst, actively working to fulfill his dream of paradise restored. The bad news is that our unbelief, our lack of faith does not make us immune from God’s discipline in our lives. In unbelief, Zachariah asked for a sign. Gabriel gave him a sign, albeit not the sign he may have expected, but a sign nonetheless. After being struck mute by Gabriel, Zachariah was pretty much reduced to being a bystander for nine months, as he could no longer perform his priestly duties in the Temple. “For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child” (Hebrews 12:6).

The second good news is actually good, good news. It is good news that our Heavenly Father does not leave us alone to fend for ourselves. Just as we would never ignore the behavior of our child and withhold discipline, God disciplines those he loves. It is very good news that God will not be denied. God chooses to work through real people. He chooses to work through frail, mortal humans to accomplish His purposes. God did not call Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu because she was saintly. He called her because he knew that as she grew in faith and trusted Him with her whole life, the world would come to know her as Mother Teresa. He will not be denied.

All of God’s people are called to be messengers of the good news of God’s love. Zachariah’s story reminds me that my unbelief, my failure to obey God’s commands, compromises my experience of God’s presence in my life. God has done his part by becoming Emmanuel, God with us. Now I get to do my part, so that I can experience Emmanuel in my life.

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

Reading for   October 3, 2012      Page 13-14   Matthew 1:18b-25; Luke 1: 26-38