Lifting Praise to Our God
John the Baptist announced the Messiah. He was the forerunner and the voice which pointed people to the Christ. When his father opened his mouth to praise God for the birth of his son, he first praised Him for the coming of His Son. He speaks of the one who would redeem God’s people and “perform the mercy promised to our fathers”. David Guzik commented, “Zacharias didn’t even know Jesus yet, but he praised Him, he loved Him, and he was passionate about Jesus. We know so much more about Jesus than Zacharias did, so what can excuse the coldness of our hearts?”
Today’s reading challenges me to praise God first, and for everything. Zacharias could have praised God for the birth of his son without mentioning the Messiah he was to be the announcer of. No one would have faulted him for singing the gift of a son born to him long after he and Elizabeth had given up on having a child. If he had only thanked the Lord for the birth of John, he would still have given us a great example of praise. Instead, he praised God for His Son. He remembered the greatest gift of the birth of our Savior and Messiah before praising God for the birth of John. Do we always remember to thank the Lord for Jesus? Are we passionate about our Messiah the way Zacharias was? As David Guzik commented, we know so much more about him. We have experienced Jesus while Zacharias merely looked forward to him. Yet, do we tell others about the miracle of our salvation? I have to admit, I love to tell people of the ways God blesses me. I love to brag about my God and King, but how often do I add my eternal salvation to that list? Let us be challenged today to not take the biggest miracle of our lives for granted or make it a footnote on our lives. Let’s make sure our Christmas story begins with the cross.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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