Born to Greatness

"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord,

and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.

He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit,

even from his mother's womb.

And he will turn many of the children of Israel

to the Lord their God.

He will also 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 a people prepared for the Lord."

Luke 1:15-17

How would you like to be born under such a prophecy? In particular, how would you like living under the pressure that God Himself sent an angel to tell your father that you would be "great" in the sight of the Lord. In a world that expects a lot out of people, that is setting the bar just a little high, don't you think? And yet we are all born with a destiny, the Lord has expectations of us all. The problem is not really that there is a destiny for , but that so many fail to ever even realize there was potential to be fulfilled.

God had little John's life planned in the most infinite and minute detail, including his very conception in life. In little more than three decades, the festival of Pentecost would become so associated with the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the apostles that two thousand years later seekers of that same experience would be called Pentecostals. But John was also filled with the Holy Ghost at Pentecost; according to scholars and historians who have done all the research and the math, the order of Abijah to which Zacharias belonged was ministering in the temple right around the time of Pentecost, and many affirm that John may have actually been conceived on Pentecost...and he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb!

I suppose that John could have rejected the will of God for his life, but I don't really think God was taking any chances with the freewill of man in the eternal plan of redemption. John had an important, and prophesied, role to fulfill in the coming of Messiah. The command on his life was that he refrain from wine and strong drink--anything that would impair his judgment and cause him to lose control of his faculties, even for a moment. He was to be completely under the control of the Holy Ghost, and God chose the most devout of parents to see to it that John was raised correctly.

Not only was John filled with the Spirit from conception and born with the God-given command not to drink alcoholic beverages, but he was also born with a mission. This mission was foretold by the last anointed prophet who preached to Israel...a man supposedly martyred for his message four hundred years before John was born. Malachi's final prophecy had been of the return of Elijah, who would come before the day of judgment to turn father's hearts back to the children back to their fathers. John had great expectations to live up to; now he had big shoes to fill...the shoes of a man who had never died. After stopping the rain for three and a half years through his prayers and calling fire down from heaven on a sacrifice that turned the tide of religious persuasion in his nation, Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire. But Malachi promised, Elijah's coming back, and when he comes back, you'll know that judgment is near!

And that was John's message when he started preaching. Repent for the kingdom is at hand. Judgment has started. Prepare for the coming of the Lord. What a terrific message to be burdened with from birth...but as we will see, John did the job right, and he did it well. I think God knew exactly what He was doing when He sent that angel to Zacharias that day in the temple. I think He knew exactly what was going to happen, and what kind of man this child was going to be. I think God knew, and that's why God gave John a big shadow to cast, big shoes to fill, and a big expectation to live up to. He knew John would do it!

And if God places something big upon you, it's only because He knows you will do it too!