Judges 13:2-7, 24-25 / Luke 1:5-25
In life, we need to have purpose and meaning as we journey along.
There can be a sustained purpose and meaning when there are faith and hope.
Faith tells us that God loves us, and hope tells us that God’s love is an everlasting love for us.
So, when we believe in God’s promises, we will keep on believing and wait for its fulfilment.
For Zachariah, he had believed in God’s love for him and his wife Elizabeth.
He had hoped for a child, but as he and Elizabeth advanced in age, the hope was dimming.
He only hung on to his faith that God will keep him and Elizabeth together even though they were childless.
So, when the angel Gabriel told him that Elizabeth will bear a son, he thought it was impossible.
Maybe a dimmed hope and a jaded faith led Zachariah to this thinking.
We too had our faith and hope tested.
And especially over a long period of time, our faith is jaded and our hope is dimmed.
But let us hang on to our faith and keep believing in God’s love for us.
And let us also keep hoping that the promises of God will be fulfilled in God’s time and in God’s way.