Luke 1:16-17 (ESV)
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
The “he” in the above passage is a baby to be born to an old priest named Zechariah and his equally old wife Elizabeth. The baby’s name would be John. Later he would be referred to as John the Baptist. Before he was born he was given the above mission.
We may think that unusual, but it is not. Yes, the announcement of his birth and the outline of the works he would do are unusual, but this is not uncommon in the life of God’s people. It is the norm. Notice what Paul says to us about our lives:
Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The key verse in the above is verse 10. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We might want to stop and think in our lives as to why we are on this planet. In the above we are told why: God has a purpose for us. He prepared those works beforehand that we should walk in them.
God has a plan for us for today and tomorrow. Our job is to obey His word and allow His sovereignty to direct us in our walk with Him. Here is how Solomon framed it:
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)
The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.
If we make our plans based upon God’s word, we will walk the steps established by God.
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