A few days ago as I was reading through the birth narrative in Luke 1 and 2 I asked myself the question, “Would I have responded the same as Zechariah to Gabriel’s news?
“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” Lk. 1:19
What struck my heart was this…if I were honest, I would have responded very similar to the way Zechariah responded. “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” This realization pained my heart because I want to see Jesus, hear His words, and believe. Here is reality, everyday we have a greater experience than that of Zechariah, for in this instance it was only an angel that was before him and when we open our Bibles and enter into prayer, who stands before us is far greater than Gabriel, it’s Jesus Christ our God. Granted Zechariah’s experience was superficially more dramatic than our day to day, yet Jesus is our reality and not only is He standing before us in His word, He is living in us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
When I come before Jesus, my desire is for my heart to respond in love. Love is believing and I want to hear and believe. Yet, many times my initial response to things of God is to approach with my mind first, figuring out the all inner-workings, and then second allowing the realities of Scripture to impact my heart in faith. This approach many of us take is completely backwards and results in our initial response being similar to that of Zechariah, namely doubt and skepticism. Our hearts are left standing at a distance from Jesus rather than running to Him with abandon.
Zechariah went into the Holy Place, encountered God and found the initial response of his heart to be doubt. May we, as we come before the Holy One Jesus Christ in His word and in prayer, come with our hearts filled with love and adoration, eager to see and believe that we might draw ever closer to Him. May we value the words of Jesus above than the reason of our minds.
Daniel's Corner 