October 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Luke 1:1-6

¹Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
²Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
³It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
⁴That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
⁵THERE was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Devotional:

After God spoke through Malachi there were some four hundred years when there was no revelation to men from their Creator. What was happening through these years?

There was much apostasy. Many turned from the precepts of God. Many failed to obey God's command to remember His law, as we find it written in Malachi's closing chapter (4:4).

There were some, however, who through the generations were still faithful to God. They had taught their children as God had required. They had prayed. They were waiting in faith for the Messiah to come. In the midst of those who were asking scornfully 'Where is the promise of his coming?', there were some whose eyes were turned toward the future and whose ears were awaiting the angelic announcement.

Zacharias was one of the latter. He was a faithful priest in the temple in Jerusalem. His wife, Elizabeth, also of priestly descent, shared his hope. 'They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless' (Luke 1:6). They were not perfect, but their lives were marked by godliness.

The beautiful picture of marriage we have here in Zacharias and Elizabeth reminds us that there is a unity of spirit that can exist only with two believing persons. Two unbelievers joined in marriage worship gods of their own making. In a mixed marriage obviously each is worshipping a different god. In Christian marriage a man and a woman are walking hand in hand in the same direction, both of them fully resolved to obey the God of their salvation according to His Word. There is possible for the Christian couple a relationship which none else can have.

Are we both Christians? Are we experiencing what would be possible for us if each were living in close fellowship with God? Do our own children or grandchildren, or the children of others, see in us what God can make of a marriage like that of Zacharias and Elizabeth? As in their day, men now ask in scorn, 'where is the promise of his coming?' (2 Peter 3:4). Do we live holy lives that anticipate the return of our Saviour?