Be Prepared: Jehovah Is A Gracious Giver

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.  --Isaiah 49:1

And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—  Isaiah 49:5

For the first time in my adult life, all of the Christmas gifts I intend to give to my family and loved ones have been purchased, wrapped, and set under the tree by the first week in December.  I'll confess that usually I am a procrastinator, one of those last-minute shoppers desperately trying to find just the right gift up until Christmas Eve.  Oh, sure, there will be last minute additions, and impulse buys to fill the stockings between now and Christmas Day.  But I am confident that if Christmas were tomorrow, I would be prepared.

As your preparations for a Christmas celebration come into focus, I want to call your attention to the first Christmas season.  In the fullness of time God sent His Son, but in the weeks and months leading up to it, He was at work in the lives of one particular extended family.  In Luke's account we are introduced first to Zechariah the priest, who was married to Elizabeth, who was a cousin to Mary, who was the mother of Jesus.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.  And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.  But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.  --Luke 1:5-7

A comparison can be made with Abraham in the Old Testament, who was married to Sarah.  They were also well advanced in years, but God had set them apart for a special gift.  Abraham, of course, was born before the Aaronic priesthood had been established, but he worshiped the one true God, and followed Him in righteous living.  By faith he heeded God's call and followed Him.

So, too, did Zechariah, whose name means "remembered of Jehovah."  And like Abraham, Zechariah was met with a messenger from God who promised a son in his old age.

[Now while he was serving as priest...] there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.  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."  --Luke 1:8, 11-15a

 The name John means "Jehovah is a gracious giver."  God had listened to the heart of this priest and his wife, who undoubtedly had prayed many years for a child.  I wonder, though, if the prayers for a child had been uttered with less frequency as the couple aged, or if they continued to pray for a child at all?  They may have been content in their situation, occasionally feeling nostalgic for what might have been, but grateful to God for what He had chosen to give them, as well as what He had chosen to withhold until now.

Let us remember that God works in His own time, and that it is never too late for a miracle.  We must stay faithful, remembering that He is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).  We must keep the faith, as did Zechariah and Elizabeth.  The gift that was promised was not only for them, but for the entire nation of Israel.  Indeed, it was a gift to us all.

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.  --Luke 1:15b-17

I want to point out a couple of things here.  First, the birth of John had been prophesied many years before.  Malachi 3:1 says, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts."  John was that messenger.  He would prepare the way of the Lord, "making straight in the desert a highway for our God" (Isaiah 40:3).  Malachi 4:6 says, "And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

God has a purpose for our life, as well.  We may not have had our purpose laid out by prophets of old, but God does want us to be available for His use.  He has gifted us for His own purpose.  Paul said in Romans 12:6-8, "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching;the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."

The second thing I want to point out from this passage is that just as God knew John before he was born, He also knew us by name.  You and I were foreknown by Him, and were called according to His purpose.  Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Galatians 1:15 says, "But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace."

We are not accidents of biology.  We are not insignificant.  Out of 8 billion people on a small planet in an isolated solar system among millions of galaxies, God knows your name.  He knows your purpose.  He knows your desires.  Once we realize this, then we are obligated to bend our will to His, and to be used for His glory.  We can prepare ourselves for His service by being faithful.

The third thing I want to emphasize is that, like John, we must learn to say, "He must increase; I must decrease" (John 3:30).  Even though John was older, he was not more important than Jesus.  Even though John's ministry began first, his was not the final word.  Throughout Scripture God has shown that the first is not always the most in God's hierarchy.  Abraham's firstborn was Ishmael, but Isaac was the child of promise.  Esau was born first, but Jacob was the father of the Jewish nation.  Aaron was older, but Moses was the mouthpiece of God.  Saul was the first king of Israel, but David was a man after God's own heart.

Our purpose is not tied to our place in the pecking order.  Our birthright is not better than those who came before, or those who come after.  Our job is to be faithful to the One who calls us, to use our gifts for Him as best we can.

For those who follow the liturgical calendar, the first Sunday of Advent is the day of Hope; the second, the day of Preparation.  My prayer for you all during this Christmas season is not that you will prepare for giving unnecessary gifts, or that you would feast on a festive meal.  I pray that you will allow God to prepare you for His purpose, and that in His time He will use you for His glory.