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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be
sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I
stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell
you this good news. And now 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.”
Luke 1:18-20
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In yesterday’s devotion, we examined
Zechariah’s encounter with the angel Gabriel while he was performing his priestly
duties inside the Holy of Holies. During that encounter, Zechariah learned that
his prayers were going to be answered and that he and his wife Elizabeth were
going to be blessed with a son even though they were both very old. Zechariah
was to name his son John.
If it had ended there, then Zechariah
wouldn’t have gotten himself in trouble with the Lord but he decided to open
his mouth and question God’s plan by asking if Elizabeth’s conceiving could
really happen since both she and he were “well along in years.” That expression
of doubt led to a quandary as the angel removed Zechariah’s ability to speak
but not without an accompanying proposition. For Zechariah would not be mute
forever but only until after his son was born when the time came for him to be
named.
This occurrence, getting into a quandary
but then receiving a proposition which dictates an end to that dilemma, is not
something that should be foreign to any of us. I think we all have experienced
it at one time or another.
For me, I can go all the way back to when I
was a kid and the times when I tested my parents by the way I behaved. I knew
the things I wasn’t supposed to do but yet at times did them anyways. This
would lead to some form of discipline, typically being grounded. It might have
gone something like this:
My parents would tell me not to do
something. I wouldn’t listen and would do it anyways. My parents would find out
and would place a penalty on me, such as getting grounded and unable to go out
for two weeks. If I was good and obedient over those two weeks, then I would be
restored to good favor and my freedom would be restored. And so, my punishment
wouldn’t last forever but only until I had paid the prescribed price.
Go back many years before Zechariah and
examine the lives of his ancestors, the Old Testament Israelites, and you will
find other examples of times when the people got themselves into a quandary
with God but knew the hardship wouldn’t last forever.
For example, take the Israelites who had
been delivered from the clutches of the Egyptians. They journeyed for forty
days through the wilderness under the leadership of Moses, allowing God to
guide them to the Promised Land of Canaan. Once there and on the brink of
entering the land, the people got cold feet after spies sent to do advance
scouting came back with news that there would be challenges ahead in fighting
the people who already inhabited the territories. The people failed to trust
God’s promise to give them the land and so He sent them back into the
wilderness one year for every day they had spent getting there in the first
place. The Israelites got themselves into a quandary but it wasn’t without an
associated proposition from God for after the forty years, they would be
allowed to return and enter the Promised Land, this time under the leadership
of Joshua. And as we know through the scriptures, this indeed happened.
Fast forward from that point in Old
Testament history and you will find the Israelites in trouble with God again,
this time directly violating His command to not worship false gods and idols.
The Israelites chose to be unfaithful to God and chase after the gods the
pagans worshiped, disrespecting and disregarding Him along the way. And so God,
who refuses to be mocked, sent His judgment down on His people which included
the destruction of their Canaan homeland and an exile to Babylon which would
span seventy years. Such was the quandary of that generation of Israelites.
They had abandoned God and so God let them see what it would feel like to be abandoned
but the punishment was not without a finishing point. For a proposition was
given that the people of Israel would be allowed to return to their homeland to
rebuild their homes, lives, and relationship with God after the seventy years
had ended. And that’s exactly what happened as the Persians overthrew the
Babylonians after which the Persian king allowed the Israelites to return back
to Judah and Jerusalem to reclaim their land and rebuild.
You see, God’s word is trying to convey an
important message to us today. For whenever we sin and end up in a quandary
because of it, God, who still ever loves us and is merciful, provides a
proposition that allows us to move from our quandary to a resolution and restoration
of our relationship with Him. Yes, we need to be corrected and disciplined for
the sins we commit but we experience this punishment from a God who is also
compassionate and caring, a God who loved us so much that He desired to make a
way for us to escape the most severe quandary we could ever be in, one that we
all are in.
For we are all sinners and destined for
doom and annihilation as a result. None of us can stand before God and be found
innocent enough to deserve His pardon. This is our quandary and without an
intercessor, none of us would have hope. So God provided us a proposition, one
that would provide us a means to get out of our quandary and back into His
favor, not just for the moment but eternally. He did this by sending His only
Son, Jesus, to earth to take away the sins of the world. Yes, this precious
little baby we are soon to have a birth celebration for would grow up to be
brutally crucified and hung on a cross to bear the price for sin that we
deserved. His subsequent resurrection three days later, conquering death and
the tomb, paved the way for others to follow if they would just place their
full faith, belief, and trust in Him as Savior.
In the end translation, Jesus became the
ultimate resolution to the quandary of sin upon sinners and that resolution
comes as a result of people accepting God’s proposition.
So where do you stand in relation to this
today? Are you still mired in your quandary or have you chosen to receive God’s
proposition, placing your hope in Jesus as Savior?
The truth of the matter is that there is
really no third option. We’re either delivered from our quandary through Jesus,
the only way to the Father (John 14:6), or we’re not and destined for
destruction.
Do yourself a favor and resolve your
relationship with God through Jesus if you haven’t done so already. You’ll
never regret escaping your predicament and experiencing His deliverance and
salvation.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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