Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Luke 1:18-20 And Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years." And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time."
MESSAGE RECEIVED . . . WITH DOUBTS
Messages ... news ... information ... these come to us every day from a number of different sources. On the radio, on the television, over the internet, in the mailbox. We take this information we receive and we sort through it and evaluate it.
So consider the message sent by God through His Messenger, Gabriel. It was a message of joy for Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth. Yet it was received doubtfully despite its joyful content.
How could he doubt this message? This wasn't junk mail. It wasn't a message from Publishers Clearing House, embossed with a golden sticker that read: "You may have already won a million dollars." This message was brought from the presence of God Himself, related by a named messenger of the heavenly host! What more confirmation did Zacharias need? Now before we get up too high on our horse, perhaps we should ask ourselves ...
How could we doubt or question the promises given us by God? We have at times wavered in our faith. How could we? The Bible isn't junk mail. God's promises aren't good only for a limited time. When has God been unfaithful? When has His word changed? We are so often weak.
God's promises will be fulfilled in their own time whether we believe them or not.
Lord Jesus! Strengthen our tottering faith through your Word of Promise, that it knows no doubt or wavering! Prepare our hearts by leading us daily to see and confess our sins. Renew in us the Spirit's power so that we may daily lay our sins at the foot of the cross, believing them paid for in Jesus' spilled blood. Amen.
