Zachariah & Elizabeth - Luke 1: 5-25

Well, I have picked Luke to start my journey. So before I get to know Jesus again, I get to know some people related to Him first. And they are Zachariah & Elizabeth. They are His uncle and auntie. From the fact that Maria went to stay with Elizabeth for 3 months after she heard from an angel, I would say they were pretty close relatives instead of distant ones. (More can be said about this later.)

I would say Zachariah and Elizabeth's was quite a 'typical miraculous story' in the Bible - both of them were righteous before God. Even so, they didn't have any kids. And with the miracle of God, at their old age they have finally got their own kid. Sounds familiar? Yes, at least I can remember Abraham, Samuel, one of the women in Old Testabment who took care of one of the prophet (was it Elijah or Elisha?)...

But when I try to get to know Zachariah & Elizabeth real and up close this time, I have noticed something interesting.

First, it's about Zachariah. He wasn't able to speak after he heard the good news from Angel Gabriel till the birth of his son, as he didn't believe what Gabriel told him.

Zachariah's first reaction to Gabriel's appearance was 'paralyzed in fear' (The Message), which I guess, no one would blame him. But what surprised me was his reaction to the good news. In The Message, the translation is 'Do you expect me to believe this?' and in NIV, it was 'How can I be sure of this?'

Noted that the second sentence from Gabriel (after telling him not to be afraid) was that 'Your prayer has been heard.' That meant, Zachariah (and probably with Elizabeth) has been, or at least has sometime ago, prayed for a baby.

It got me thinking - did he really mean it or believe in it when he prayed for a baby? If so, why would he reacted this way i.e. not able to believe, even an angel appearing from nowhere telling him such news? Then I would think, how many times in my life I have prayed without believing that God would really do something about it? Maybe, afterall, I am not much different from Zachariah.

And it also amuse me to note that, actually, Zachariah's reaction can also be seen as asking for another sign, especially from the NIV translation. There were many people in Bible asking for signs from God, after hearing His revealation, and I do not recall any of them got 'punished' by asking for a sign. (May be I remember incorrectly, please let me know if that's the case!). I wonder if it was because for others, they heard God's revealation from other human being, e.g. a prophet, so it's sort of OK for them to ask for some 'miraculous signs'. As in Zachariah's case, the appearance of Gabriel the angel itself is already a supernatural event that should be enough to show him it really was a message from God. So any further request for proof was thus 'penalised'.

It just reminded me once again how firmly we might be got hold with on earthly belief and thought - in this case of Zachariah, it's the belief that 'old age = no children'. Even seeing the messenger from God, he still couldn't breakthrough from such thought. We just need to keep remind ourselves that our God is OMNIPOTENT, in Him, there really is NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE! Do I also fall in this trap from time to time?

When I turned to Elizabeth, the mentioning was short. But this line caught my attention, 'she went off by herself for five months' (The Message) or 'for five months, she hid herself' (Revised Standard Version).

Why did she need to, or want to hide for 5 months? My suspection was that she didn't really believe it, either - 'it's too good to be true! Can I really be pregnant? At this old age? I had better wait and see.' I guess I can really understand her concern from a pregnant woman's point of view - many women would not announce their pregnancy until the first three months have passed, that they are more sure of the safety of the pregnancy. I guess it's even more so for Elizabeth, being pregnant at her old age. The last thing she wanted would be to disappoint others, and most of all herself, by a false alarm. It would be too much to bear.

The Jesus I Never Knew

Just finished reading this book. Suffice to say it's good enough to ignite my interest and passion to read the 4 gospels again to really get to know Jesus by myself - seeing that I have not been knowing Him in person before, but really only through others' eyes, the Sunday school version, the tamed and all-loving-all-perfect-not-so-human Jesus. (I'm not saying He's not perfect, just that, He is actually a person in blood and flesh, with His own temper and character and attractiveness, which I have never really explored before.)

So hopefully I can embark on this meaningful journey in getting to know Jesus, the real Jesus, by myself in the coming weeks - though it'd be a never ending journey...

A welcomed break

This morning I went to get the birth certificate for Yee Lok. There were so many new born! I got to wait for about 2.5 hours before it was my turn for the application. So after getting my queue-up slip, I went to a near-by Starbucks.

It turned out to be the most relaxing and refreshing 2 hours in the past month or so!

Relaxing on a comfortable sofa, sucking in the aroma of coffee, enjoying a cup of Mocca, under the soft light, glancing out the sunny busy street outside, I enjoyed my time alone with Jesus at this corner of this busy coffee shop. Reading "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey, I felt I got to know Him like never before. Yes, too often I was blinded by the usual tamed way of seeing Christ. Yes, too often I was too lazy to face my own true self and Christ, to see what He really meant in His words and what it really meant to me, in my own life. It was a quiet, great encounter this morning, and reminded me more than ever who Christ is, and what He meant in my life.

Thank you Lord, for such an unexpected encounter and such a needed quiet time with you.

Work & Workload

(How many of my colleagues read my blog? Think it’s an ultimate test and a test of my confidence in writing this….)

For over 10 years, I’ve been hearing from Wesley all the time how he has finished all he has to do by 9:15am every day. Now with his latest job, it has all changed and work would keep him busy from the first till last minute when he’s in office, and even some occasional OT work to take home.

Interestingly, it’s the other way round for me. For the past 2 weeks I don’t have much to do. I’ve even cleared away a number of some long outstanding items that have been sitting around for months, if not for years! I really got a bit bored from all this down time. I’ve been saying that it’s not easy to work on a job that has nothing to do – it takes some special personality to do so and survive. I guess I’m just not one of them.

I guess I really enjoyed it when my boss was away for the past 5 weeks on study when I acted as her deputy. Frankly, I haven’t done much. But I really appreciate the opportunity given to me to participate and to be involved in meetings and subject items that otherwise I won’t have chance to touch. It’s such a big contrast then and now, without much happening in my own area.

I guess it’s really ‘luxurious complaint’ to be made. Any how, I’m thankful for such a stress-free position for these 2 years when I have the babies. God knows best.

Gold coin

It’s a very small gold coin, even smaller than a 10 cents. But still, I’m quite excited to receive it. It’s the 10 years service award from my company.

10-year is indeed quite a long time! That’s nearly one-third of my life so far. It didn’t feel like 10 years with the frequent job changes at the first few years. But I do treasure my time here very much. Thank you Lord. I like my job and this company indeed and thanks Jesus for putting me here.

Look forward to getting more gold coins for my 15 years, 20 years, 25 years …. of service.

(I think the only thing I’m not sure is whether my kids will change my mind, or God may tell me to try for something new for Him someday. Let’s see.)