October 22 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Luke 1:7-25

⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
⁹According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
¹¹And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
¹²And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
¹⁷And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
²⁰And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
²¹And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple.
²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.
²³And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
²⁴And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
²⁵Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

Devotional:

'To take away my disgrace among men!' How amazing this statement sounds to today's ears! This is completely out of harmony with current thought-patterns. Today many women consider it quite within their right and prerogative to choose to be childless. This choice is now within a woman's power and she can use one of various means to prevent herself from becoming a mother. If her precautions fail she can abort the child who has begun to grow in her womb.

So it is indeed strange to think of childlessness as being a disgrace among men! But that is the way it was in Bible days. Children were considered an heritage of the Lord. The fruit of the womb was His reward. Children were called 'arrows' in the 'quiver' of a man and he was happy when his 'quiver' was full (Psalm 127:3-5).

Of course there was no population explosion at that time. Children were needed to help with the chores. Besides, it was not so easy to prevent having them. Today children may be a real burden financially. It isn't even considered moral or patriotic to have a large family! One could really become alarmed by listening to prognostications concerning food shortages, pollution, and inflation in the future. Parents might well be apprehensive concerning the hardships today's babies will probably experience during their life-span.

'But God ... ,' as Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds us. He comments that many of the things that the world says, are true; our situation is frightening; yes, we must agree. 'But God ... ' Here is the difference. God wants to bless us with children. His estimate of their value is the accurate one. Surely the world needs as much of the salt of Christian faith as we can supply. There may be overpopulation, but there will never be overpopulation of Christians. There may be increasing pollution of the material world, but the influence of Christians is needed to counteract the more serious pollution of morals. Furthermore, the projected woes of the future will never be too severe for the one whose God is the Lord!