Father, all I can say about today is that I am so glad that You encouraged me this morning to proclaim in both services that You are most definitely always with us but where we need to improve is to realize and acknowledge it! You do so much for us, and we see Your hand in all points of our lives. Amen.
Luke 1:67-80 (<<click to read the passage)
Reading through these verses once more my mind is literally bouncing all over the place! I am moved especially by the end of Zechariah’s song, where he proclaims the part that his newborn son will play in the coming of the Messiah – a long-anticipated event in the heart and mind of every faithful Israelite. Reread verses78 and 79,
Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.” (NLT)
My mind was instantly drawn to the image of a prisoner. One who has sat in the darkest of dungeons for so long that time no longer has meaning. Death is inevitable. He is aware that it may very well be a grisly end but he also fears that the end may never come and that he will sit where he finds himself, rotting away little by little, as does the fetid, flea-infested straw in his cubicle of squalor. No hope… No end in sight… No possibility of freedom or salvation…
And the worst element is the fact that he and he alone is to blame for where he finds himself. He is guilty of that; he has no doubt. He is in a cell of his own making with no expectation of escape.
That picture is clear in my mind but immediately a grand old hymn comes to mind. It is a favorite of many – Charles Wesley’s And Can It Be. Here is the third verse.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night.
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray.
I woke; the dungeon flamed with light!
My chains fell off; my heart was free.
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off; my heart was free.
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
Didn’t Wesley pen the most beautiful prose to declare Christ’s work in our lives? It reflects the reality of where we all have been. Condemned… Separated… Guilty… Hopeless…
But because of Jesus’ coming, because He gave up himself, because He paid the price for the dastardly deeds we committed, we are free! And as Zechariah proclaimed, we now are guided “to the path of peace.”
Lord Jesus, all praise to You for setting us free through Your sacrifice! May it be a realization in our lives and may we life to proclaim to all, the freedom we have experienced so that some other prisoner might find freedom as well! Amen.
Oct 20th, 2019, Sun, 8:05 pm
