Christmas According to Kids Part 2 — John the Baptist Knew - Monday
TODAY’S VERSE
Luke 1:15
For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. (ESV)
Most parents keep track of milestones through pregnancy and their child’s first year, especially with a firstborn baby. I remember making note of the day I first got a positive pregnancy test, the day I first saw a heartbeat on an ultrasound, and the day I first felt my son kicking in my belly. One of my favorite pregnancy milestones was the day I first started to show with an actual round baby bump and could stop hiding under oversized sweatshirts that made people question, “Did she have one too many breakfast burritos, or is she pregnant?”
Then in the first year of my son’s life, there were lots of fun firsts. First tooth (bottom front). First word (Dada, of course). First food (ice cream… because life’s too short only to eat pureed carrots). First steps, first laughter, first bonks and boo boos. But what about baby’s first… sermon?
My baby hasn’t ever preached a sermon. He may give me a “lecture” now and then when the chicken nuggets haven’t materialized quick enough when he’s hungry, but we have a way to go before he’s pulpit-ready and heresy-proofed. I don’t know if he’ll ever be a preacher, but I do want to teach him to proclaim Jesus, no matter what he does vocationally. For most people, the ability to do that doesn’t really begin until their grasp of language is sufficient. But for one baby, it started earlier.
In Luke 1, an angel came to the priest Zechariah and told him that he and his wife Elizabeth, though they were old and barren, would have a son named John who would fulfill a special role as a prophet preparing the way for Jesus by preaching about Him to God's people. He would be filled with the Holy Spirit, “even from his mother’s womb.” Decades later, Jesus would go on to esteem John’s important role by saying, “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11). But John’s first sermon about Jesus wasn’t in his teens or his twenties… it was in his mother’s womb!
In Luke 1:41, while still safely tucked away in amniotic fluid in Elizabeth’s warm womb, John leaps at the presence of the newly conceived Jesus in Mary’s body. THIS was a baby’s first sermon! He would go on to dedicate his whole life to proclaiming the good news of the coming Messiah, but it started early and never stopped. What’s your excuse?
APPLICATION
Who do you know who needs to hear the good news of Jesus? What’s holding you back from inviting them to a Christmas service with you this year?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to have the conviction and the courage to be bold in making Your presence known. Show me who needs the good news of Jesus in my life and give me an opportunity to share it with them clearly.
