Luke 1:57-66
When John was born the neighbors came to congratulate Elizabeth and Zechariah. They were astounded when Elizabeth announced that his name would be John rather than be named after his father. Tradition was extremely important to the Jewish people. Names also carried a powerful significance. However, the people recognized that there was something special about this child. His mother had conceived in her old age and now they were giving him a special name. They wondered what he would turn out to be. As we know, he was the forerunner, the announcer, the preparer for the Messiah. When our children were tiny little babies, I am sure that most of you wondered, as I did about mine, what will they be? How will they turn out? I am also sure that few of them turned out the way we thought that they would. They may have exceeded our expectations or they may have disappointed us. When my daughter was young, I was very ambitious and driven to succeed vocationally and financially. That was my focus and my desire for my daughter was that she would get a good education and be financially successful. Later in life my priorities changed but by then she was grown. She did not become a doctor or a lawyer or the CEO of some corporation as I had envisioned. She has been a hard worker and has always had a good job but she is not financially wealthy. However she is rich in the ways that count. She is a Godly woman of the highest moral character and she is an excellent mother. She has raised a son who is also of high moral standards and who is loving and caring. She came to be the woman that God wanted her to be regardless of my expectations. She is more than I could have hoped for her to be. God has a plan for our lives and for our children's lives. It still amazes me how God accomplishes his purposes in spite of us.
