Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
Luke 1
Read Luke 1 in your Bible. Or you can also read it here.
Luke 1 gives us a lot of details that lead up to Jesus’ birth, details which we do not see in the other gospels. It talks about the foretelling of two births – John the Baptist and Jesus.
First, we read about the foretelling of the birth of John the Baptist. John’s parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were old and had no children. Zechariah was a priest. Both he and Elizabeth were “righteous in the sight of God” (Luke 1:6). One day Zechariah “was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.” (v 9)
This was a special day for Zechariah. Not only because of the duties he was to perform that day, but also because of something extraordinary that happened while he was in the temple. The angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zechariah while he was inside and told him that Elizabeth would soon bear a son.
What an amazing promise this must have been. Was hope bubbling up inside of Zechariah? We don’t have the answer. But as the story unfolds, it does appear that doubt had creeped in. “Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.’” (v. 18)
Due to Zechariah’s questioning, things take a slight turn. Gabriel tells him, “…you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” (v. 20) Yikes. How scary it must have been to not be able to speak for many months.
Later in this chapter we read about the foretelling of Jesus’ birth. The same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Mary and tells her that she too will have a son. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (v 32)
I wonder what emotions ran through Mary when she heard this news. Was she fearful or hopeful? Was she in awe or confused? In verse 34, Mary does question Gabriel by asking how this can happen since she is a young, unmarried girl.
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. …For no word from God will ever fail.” (v 35,37)
How did Mary reply to that? I am amazed by her response. In verse 38 Mary says, “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” Mary’s words are inspiring. Would any of us have been able to submit to the Lord in this situation? Do we submit to the Lord this easily in less consequential situations? How I wish I always had this attitude. In fact, this story makes me cringe at my reaction to much smaller circumstances, when something comes my way that I did not plan for.
And reading through this chapter in Luke, I am struck by the contrast in these two different stories. Zechariah who doubted versus Mary who surrendered. Reading this shows me the importance of speaking faith with our words. It is not always easy to speak faith, but it is possible because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. It must start in our hearts. We must fully trust in the Lord first, and then our words will better reflect our faith. May the words that come out of our mouths be pleasing to the Lord. May our words show God, ourselves, and those around us that we have strong faith in our trustworthy Father.
If you are also participating in the Gratitude Challenge, today is day 72 of 100. Keep up the good work!
© Bridget A. Thomas. Adapted from original post on Christians Read entitled Speak Faith by Bridget A. Thomas on December 10, 2020.
Bridget A. Thomas 
I agree; Mary’s words are inspiring and they reinforce the importance of submitting to God’s will. I have to examine myself and make sure I am obeying and trusting in Him in every circumstance. Thanks Bridget. Enjoy your day.
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Dawn, you make a great point! In order to fully surrender, we might need to continually examine our heart’s posture. I find that I get distracted by life and don’t always give things like this the attention they need. So we have to be intentional. Thank you for sharing your insight! And I hope you enjoy your day too. 😊
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Thank you for pointing out the contrast between Zechariah and Mary; this is something that I had not thought a lot about previously. May we be willing to surrender to all His callings on our lives.
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I am glad you found this insightful. You said that well – “May we be willing to surrender to all His callings in our lives.” Amen!
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Mary’s response is just beautiful. She says I am the Lords servant. To what she was called to do for God was not easy and would have resulted in her facing a lot of gossip about her from others. But she surrendered. Zachariah doubted and he did endure the consequence of that by not being able to talk till John was born. But through that quiet time, I assume he contemplated what he said and God worked in him and he reached a place where he praised God once he could speak.
Excited to be doing Luke with you Bridget 🤗.
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You make a great point, Manu! I had not thought about how God worked in Zachariah’s life during his quiet months. But you are right because we do see how Zechariah’s outlook had changed.
I pray we can learn to have a heart like Mary who surrenders to the Lord’s will.
Manu, I am so excited that you are with me on this adventure! ♥️
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I somehow didn’t remember that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. I was struck by that wondering if there was some sort of significance to it. Is it a nod to the Father, (soon to be) Son, and Holy Spirit? Is it merely to detract from conjecture about Mary bearing a child out of wedlock? Is it both and perhaps more that we cannot yet comprehend? Probably. Apart from that the lesson in this chapter, as you indicated, is if you have faith and not doubt, God’s word will be fulfilled.
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Ah such a good point! I hadn’t thought about that. 🤔 I bet you are right that it is both and more. Some things we may not fully understand, this side of heaven.
And yes I agree. Staying rooted in strong faith is key to how things will play out in our lives. It might not always be pretty, but we can trust Him. 🙌
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I love this relationship between Mary and Elizabeth. It shows how we need that one person.
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That’s a good point, Crystal. Having someone who “gets you” is surely a gift from God!
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zak got burned
but learned
to follow the plan
be ya woman or man
not like hot coals
on my profane lips
just kissed the holy writ
by doin ma biiit
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😊
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love the book of Daniel . oh king live forever!
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I wish I could surrender as easily as Mary. I hate to admit that there have been times when I’ve fought God on His plans for me simply because I didn’t want to. How silly now I think about it! Haha!
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I am right there with you, my friend! It can be so easy to think things should go a certain way. Then when they don’t, it feels like our world is upside down. I pray we can learn to surrender fully to the Lord. When we do, we can trust Him to work all things together for good!
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I’m behind a few days but plan to catch up today…I read Luke 1 earlier this morning and love the praise given to God in this chapter, especially Zechariah after his moment of doubt and consequences.
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Alicia, I am glad you are here! But I know everyone is busy, especially around the holidays. So I will understand if anyone gets behind or just can’t do it. You made a great point about Zechariah’s changed attitude. I have noticed in my own life that when I stumble, that sends me back to God with a renewed outlook and attitude. The Holy Spirit nudges us and then helps us to cling to God even tighter.
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Amen!! Good words of truth.
I will definitely keep up with reading through Luke I just might have some days where I have to read three chapters or so (at a time) to catch up again lol😉
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