Leadership Lesson from the Biblical Historical Account of Christmas

 

Daily Reading:  Luke 1:5 – 25

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

                                                                                                        Luke1:6

               As men, we are often willing to make excuses for our actions or lack thereof. We explain away our shortcomings by shifting the blame and making ourselves victims of our circumstances.  We see that as an easier path than taking responsibility. Zacharias the husband of Elizabeth and father of John the Baptist, certainly had reason to shift blame and play the victim.  The Jews at that time were under harsh Roman rule. Herod, governor of Judea, was a wicked man that would seek to kill Jesus and would kill many innocent children during his reign. Jewish leadership was clearly off course and only served themselves. They took calculated measures to protect their positions of power and control. In his own house, his wife Elizabeth was never able to give him children and now they were both old. To make matters worse, God had not communicated with His people Israel for 400 years.

Despite these conditions, Zacharias seems to have taken the same position as Joshua once did when he said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) In day to day life, he and Elizabeth were faithfully obeying God’s word to Israel. Luke records that they kept the commandments and ordinances blameless.  Zacharias was also faithful in fulfilling his responsibilities in the temple.  We even discover that he was a man of prayer when the angel told him, “Fear not, Zacharias:  for thy prayer is heard.”  Apparently, Zacharias had been asking God for a son.  Zackarias’ one shortcoming was that when God finally answered his prayer, he did not believe the angel’s promise of a son.

We will have opportunities in this life to bend to the pressures of the culture and society. Those opportunities will also provide us cover to excuse our actions and decisions. It is in those very moments that we must stand fast!  We must dig in and never allow the struggles of a fallen world to dictate the terms of our surrender to it. Our only surrender in this life should be to God and His will            (Romans 12:1 – 2).