“Both of them were righteous in the sight of God.” Luke 1:6 NIV
We must be prepared to receive His sovereign grace. We can’t orchestrate a true revival, but we can stop one. We need to be the kind of people that Zechariah and Elizabeth were so that God can use us if He chooses to do so. John Calvin comments, “In ordering our life, . . . therefore, our first study ought to be to approve ourselves to God; and we know that what He chiefly requires is a sincere heart and a pure conscience” (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], 16:10). We may look at our actions, but God looks first at our heart. This means that we must trust in Christ for forgiveness of all our sins and for His righteousness in place of our own. We must judge our sins on the thought level, because “all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). We can fake it before the church and the world, but we can’t fake it before God. It is ironic that Herod was called “Herod the Great” by his contemporaries, but here, John is called great by God (Luke 1:15). It would be the wicked son of this wicked tyrant who put John to death. But in the final court of God, both Herods will not be great, but John will be highly esteemed. The true estimate of any life is not what others think, but what God thinks. We must guard against living for the approval and applause of others. Like John and his godly parents, let us live lives that are approved by God, through the power and ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
PRAYER THOUGHT
Lord, help us by Your Spirit to live lives that bring glory to You.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, by Your Holy Spirit, help us to live for Your approval and applause rather than that of others. Like John and his godly parents, let us live for Your approval alone. AMEN
INTERNATIONAL BIBLE READING ASSOCIATION (IBRA)
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
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