5)
THERE was in
the days of Herod, the king of
23)
And it came to pass, that,
as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his
own house.
24)
And after those days his
wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
25)
Thus hath the Lord dealt
with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
26)
And in the sixth month the
angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of
27)
To a virgin espoused to a
man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was
Mary.
28)
And the angel came in unto
her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured,
the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29)
And when she saw him, she
was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this
should be.
30)
And the angel said unto
her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with
God.
31)
And, behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
|
A |
nything that
is going to "be" must have a beginning. Nothing ever gets
accomplished until it is "started"—that is, it must have a beginning.
Generally,
formulating and soliciting ideas for a project is not difficult. Many people
can come up with ideas of what "ought" to be done and
"should" be done. However, once any plans are "hatched,"
there must be a conception of those plans—a starting point.
Today, we are
examining the story of Zacharias, a priest and
Elisabeth, his wife. Both were aged and Elisabeth had lived her married years barren. As Zacharias was
fulfilling his function of burning incense before the Lord, he was visited by
an angel of the Lord who let him know that he would have a son.
We must
always remember as we read this holy book that these incidents really occurred
and the people involved had to have been as overwhelmed as we would be, today.
Even in these "modern times," the Lord tells us things no less
wondrous, yet we take most of what He says very lightly.
As old as Zacharias and Elisabeth were, it took an act of God for her
to conceive. Indeed, it took a miracle, yet God is a God of the miraculous and
"nothing is impossible with God."
In the course
of her pregnancy, Elisabeth hid herself for five months. No doubt, it is very
difficult for some to imagine that anyone would feel reproach at not having had
a son, yet historically, we must remember that the birth of a male was critical
in Jewish culture. You see, this was the path through which the Savior of the
world was to come. Elisabeth, herself, was very important in this scenario, in
that as Mary's cousin she gave birth to John the Baptist, the cousin and
forerunner of Jesus.
In
retrospect, the salutation given to Mary by the angel (verse 28) is fully understandable, yet, we must remember that a very young girl
was approached by a supernatural being who told her that suddenly, she was
singled out by God. Easy for us to understand and accept, yet quite troubling
to a young girl.
The story of
the Immaculate Conception and birth of Jesus is commonly known, repeated and
taken for granted. How often, if ever, do we consider what would have happened
had Mary rejected the message of God? There would have been no
"conception" without Mary's "acceptance." You see, to be
able to accomplish anything for God, one must be willing to
"conceive" (that is, "accept") what He has said. Never at
any time can we say that it is impossible to do what God says we must. We
cannot say that it is impossible to be righteous.
For us,
"conception" starts when we are willing to say what God says. Then,
once that seed is planted (that is, we have "conceived"), we can do
all that it says in the Word of God.
Obviously,
Man quite easily conceives sin, which brings death. If it is that easy to
accept that which is wrong, then we can just as easily conceive the
righteousness which brings life.
Though this
is specifically the Christmas season, at the mention of the Messiah (Who came
to deliver all from sin) there should be joy in one's life. After all, if an
unborn child (John) could recognize the Saviour in His mother's womb, how much
more moved should we be? We already know His saving power--and that His Word is
true.
If God says
that there will be a conception of any sort, get ready to reproduce. Whatever
He calls into existence is already done.
What should
be abundantly clear to us by now is that praise is to be offered for more than
just the natural. If that is all for which we recognize the Lord, that is all
for which we will receive the increase. Conversely, if we learn to praise our
God for every spiritual blessing and revelation, we would see ourselves take
great, unprecedented "strides" in Him.
The success
of one's spiritual life is partially measured by the "children" he
"births." The Lord expects production and equips us for such through
instruction and testing. If we would fulfill our requirement in this area, we
must be willing to conceive the possibility of fulfilling His command. Notice,
before the "fulfillment" comes the
conception of the very possibility of that fulfillment. Until we can
"see" this, we will remain largely ignorant of the possibilities of
God.
"In the
beginning..." it was the Spirit of God that "...moved upon the face
of the waters" and from there, all was created. He knew that all things
conceived by Him, in His Spirit, were possible. We too must know this, so that
that selfsame Spirit. He has invested in us will be bound by nothing.
Need we worry
about anything? Absolutely not, for even in the days of John the Baptist and
his parents, God was conducting His Word the same. Once He had declared that
was toe in the lives of Zachariah and Elizabeth, it was "done"—with
no physical action necessary! Why? Because conception occurred when
believed.
If we will be a part of "the
Conception," we must be able to "see" what God sees and how
He sees it and us. If He tells us that we are to be something particular or do
something particular, in His mind, it is done. In our lives, it would be done,
too, if we would accept what God says. This is, the only way to
"produce" for the
If we would
participate in the conception and fulfillment of God's kingdom, we cannot allow
ourselves to be as the fig tree which had the appearance of being able to
"do" something, yet did not "have it" within its system to
"produce." There is nothing worse than someone professing something
that they are unable to "deliver." Man needs help, so he goes to the
one who looks as if he can give it, then he finds that
one to be ineffective because he has been unable to conceive what God has
given.
Unlike a physical
conception, a spiritual conception must be accepted and believed before it
can come to fruition. Anything and everything God speaks is done as soon as
He speaks it, but the one to be blessed must accept it and be able to see
himself where God sees him. If you will be "conceived" of Him and part of His People "the conception" must
become personal for you.