JANUARY 3, Luke 1:5-17 

Before Jesus Christ was born, His cousin was born to be His messenger and forerunner. This man was John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth. The birth of John was an unlikely one, because his parents were old. What happened was this: An angel announced his birth to his father, a priest, while he was performing duties in the temple. But Zacharias was full of fear and unbelief and was struck dumb untill his son was born.

True enough, Elisabeth, his wife, became pregnant! In those days, women who could not conceive were despised, and so Elisabeth thanked the Lord greatly for taking away her shame and blessing her with a child. Elisabeth must have prayed to the Lord for a child for years, and nally, God answered her prayers.

I would like you to focus on verse 15 – it tells us that John would be great in the sight of God. You may know that John lived a life that was very different from others. He wore camel’s hair and leather; he ate locusts and wild honey. One cannot say he was well-dressed or had great taste for yummy food. He was a simple man, even rough, in the eyes of men. He did not have any great education nor was he rich. It was not mentioned in the Bible that he was handsome or athletic; neither was he “cool” in any sense of the word. So why was he great? He was great because he would live a life of obedience to God. John was given such a great privilege – to announce the Coming of Jesus Christ to the world!

Dear child, do you know that we have the same privilege of telling the world about Jesus? Of course, it is not about His First Coming. He had come to die for our sins and is now in Heaven. But we may be able to tell others of His Second Coming! Jesus will come back one day, in glory and power!

Some of us may prefer to be “great” in the eyes of men. We may want our classmates to like us or to invite us to birthday parties. Some children do the wrong things to draw attention to themselves. Dear child, aim to be great in the eyes of God, not men.

Thought: Aim to be great in the sight of God, not man.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the precious example of John, who was great because he was obedient to You and was used to tell the world about Jesus. May You also use me to tell others about Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.