First Words
Read Luke 1:57-66.
What were your first words? I doubt you remember, but perhaps someone has shared that significant moment with you. Beyond the silence and the babbling, what was the first thing you said that made sense? According to researchers, the most common "first word" is some variation of "Dad"—dada, daddy, etc. That's meant as no insult to Moms, but apparently the "D" sound is easier for infants to make than the "M" sound, so Dada often comes out earlier and easier than Mama.
Now imagine you had been mute for nine months—not by your own choosing, but by the work of the Holy Spirit. Imagine you only had one thing to do at the end of those nine months and your tongue would be loosed. All you had to do was to make sure your newborn child was given a specific name. Once you did that, you would be free to speak again. What would be your first words? What would you choose to say?
Would you finish every argument that your spouse had begun over the last nine months? Would you have kept a list of all the things you wanted to weigh in on during that time? Would you ask for something, demand something, or sing something?
Zechariah was in just that situation. Nine months he had been silent. Now, when he does as the angel had told him and names his son John, against all the advice of well-meaning relatives and friends, his tongue is loosed and he can say anything he wants. What does he say? Like a newborn baby, he cries out for his Daddy. Luke says his voice erupted in praise to his heavenly Father. He doesn't try to win any arguments with Elizabeth. He doesn't coo and cuddle his son immediately. He doesn't list all the things he has disagreed with for the last nine months. He worships God first.
We haven't been silent for nine months—well, I guess I can't speak for you, but I haven't. And yet, I pray that my every word and every action this season of the year, and every season of the year, flows out of praise to my heavenly Father, that those around me would know that He is my priority. That is my earnest prayer this Advent season. May it be yours as well.
What were your first words? I doubt you remember, but perhaps someone has shared that significant moment with you. Beyond the silence and the babbling, what was the first thing you said that made sense? According to researchers, the most common "first word" is some variation of "Dad"—dada, daddy, etc. That's meant as no insult to Moms, but apparently the "D" sound is easier for infants to make than the "M" sound, so Dada often comes out earlier and easier than Mama.
Now imagine you had been mute for nine months—not by your own choosing, but by the work of the Holy Spirit. Imagine you only had one thing to do at the end of those nine months and your tongue would be loosed. All you had to do was to make sure your newborn child was given a specific name. Once you did that, you would be free to speak again. What would be your first words? What would you choose to say?
Would you finish every argument that your spouse had begun over the last nine months? Would you have kept a list of all the things you wanted to weigh in on during that time? Would you ask for something, demand something, or sing something?
Zechariah was in just that situation. Nine months he had been silent. Now, when he does as the angel had told him and names his son John, against all the advice of well-meaning relatives and friends, his tongue is loosed and he can say anything he wants. What does he say? Like a newborn baby, he cries out for his Daddy. Luke says his voice erupted in praise to his heavenly Father. He doesn't try to win any arguments with Elizabeth. He doesn't coo and cuddle his son immediately. He doesn't list all the things he has disagreed with for the last nine months. He worships God first.
We haven't been silent for nine months—well, I guess I can't speak for you, but I haven't. And yet, I pray that my every word and every action this season of the year, and every season of the year, flows out of praise to my heavenly Father, that those around me would know that He is my priority. That is my earnest prayer this Advent season. May it be yours as well.
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