There was a house in the busy city of Jerusalem, and it was a little sad. Something was missing from this house. If you watched this house for a time you would notice that it was different from most of the ones near it. There were no toys scattered in its yard. The only shoes that were laid near its door were made to fit big grown up feet. No one ever saw a small robe, or little socks drying on the clothesline that stretched across the alley. And the sound of a laughing child never floated out of the windows of this home. After watching this house for a while you would know that this home had no children living in it.

This made Zachariah and Elisabeth very sad. For many years the husband and wife that lived in this house held hands over the kitchen table and prayed that the Lord would give them a child. 

Sometimes Zachariah wondered if the Lord was listening to him when he prayed. “Elisabeth,” he asked, “We have been praying for a child for so long, and now we are quite old, do you think God will ever answer our prayer?”

“Husband, we are careful to honor God by keeping His commandments,” Elisabeth replied,” and you are a faithful priest at the temple. I know that God hears our prayers and that He knows what is best for us.”

Elisabeth’s faith helped Zachariah to keep believing that God does answer prayers.

Zachariah enjoyed his job as a temple priest. He loved God very much and it pleased him to be able to serve Him. 

One day, Zachariah went to the temple as he had done for many years. There were many jobs to do at the temple. This day his assignment was to light the special incense lamps. When he lit these lamps, they gave off a pleasant and sweet smell. The smoke from them reminded him of how prayers go up from the people to God. This was an important responsibility, because the incense lamps were never supposed to go out.

As he brought the flame to each lamp and it would ‘whoosh’ up with fire, Zachariah would close his eyes tight and spend a moment praying. Not only was he praying, but there was also a crowd of people outside the temple who were also praying.

On this day Zachariah saw something amazing that he had never seen before. He lit the last lamp and closed his eyes. “Oh dear Lord,” he prayed, “please, I so want to have a child.” 

When he opened his eyes he saw an angel standing to the right of the incense table. Right away he knew that this was not one of the other priests. This was the Angel of the Lord!

He had never seen an angel before! Zachariah’s eyes bulged wide and his whole body began to shake. He was afraid. His mouth moved, but he could not talk.

The angel smiled at the trembling man and spoke, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah. The Lord has heard your prayer.” 

Zachariah wondered to himself, “Which prayer?”

The angel answered, “Your wife Elisabeth shall soon have a baby boy. His name will be John.”

Zachariah’s heart pounded with joy when he heard this. At the same time he thought to himself, “But we are really old to be having children.”

The angel continued and told the priest about the son he was soon to have. “Your child will bring you great joy and gladness. Not only that, but many other people will celebrate that he has been born.”

Zachariah’s head was spinning as he took in all that the angel was telling him.

“When God looks at your boy,” the Angel of the Lord said as his face beamed, “He will see a person he considers GREAT and SPECIAL!”

Zachariah struggled to memorize every word the angel spoke, even as he wondered if he was talking about a real baby that he and his wife would have.

“Your boy will be filled with the Spirit of God,” the angel told him, "and the Lord has a very special job for him to do."

Zachariah finally sputtered his first words, “D…D…Did you say a son? A baby boy”

“Yes,” the angel warmly answered, “Many many of the children of Israel will turn back to believing and loving God because of your son.”

Zachariah was dazed, “You did say a son?”

“The Holy Spirit will give your boy the same spirit and power that the great prophet Elijah had,” the Angel continued, “God will use him to change the hearts of the people so that they love Him like they did in the days long ago of Abraham. Your boy, John, will cause people to realize that they have forgotten about the Lord and make them want to obey His commands.”

Zachariah whispered, “A boy?”

“Listen carefully,” the angel firmly spoke, “God will use your son John to get His people ready for the wonderful promise that God is soon going to keep.” 

The angel was talking about the Savior, Jesus, who would soon be born. The people had been waiting for Jesus for thousands of years, ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. God had promised many times to send His Son to save the people from their sins. Unfortunately, over the years many of the people had forgotten about this wonderful promise. John, with the Spirit of God’s power, would spend his life reminding and preparing the people to meet God’s own Son!

Zachariah was amazed by all that the angel was telling him, yet he still had one little question. “Excuse me,” he cleared his throat, “but how can this be possible? I am an old man. My wife is old too. How can we have a baby now?”

Now the angel’s eyes became wide. “My name is Gabriel!” his voice boomed. “I come from the Lord Himself! He has spoken directly to me and sent me to give you this wonderful message!”

Then Gabriel pointed at the trembling priest and spoke, “Now, because you doubted the words I spoke to you, you will not be able to speak a word until your baby is born.”

Zachariah started to apologize for not believing the Lord’s message. He opened his mouth and moved his tongue, but he made no sound! He even tried to scream, but the room stayed quiet.

Gabriel then left Zachariah alone in the room with the burning lamps. After a while the priest gathered his things and turned to leave the temple.

“What is taking Zachariah so long in there?” the crowd outside the temple wondered, “Maybe the Lord is giving him a message for us.”

Everyone stopped their murmuring when they saw Zachariah standing in the doorway. They cupped their hands to their ears so they could hear what the priest had to say. When they couldn’t hear him, the people leaned forward.

“His mouth is moving, but I can’t hear a thing,” whispered a man in the front row to his friend. 

Zachariah tapped his fingers to his mouth and shook his head. Then he shrugged his shoulders and walked away. 

All the way home he thought about how he was going to bring the wonderful message that Gabriel the angel had brought to him from the Lord. How was he going to tell her, without being able to speak?!!!

It took a while, but once Elisabeth understood what her husband's wild hand motions meant, she was thrilled. "I knew that the Lord would answer our prayers! Oh, thank you Lord!"

From that day on, people noticed that Elisabeth had changed. Now, most of the time she had smile on her face, as she thought about becoming a mother. People could hear her singing as she prepared her home for a child. This was a happy time for Elisabeth and her very quiet husband!

A few months later there was even more great news. Elisabeth’s cousin Mary was also going to have a baby! (That is a different baby, and a different story!)

Nine months after Zachariah's visit with Gabriel the Angel, the sound of a brand new baby’s cries could be heard coming from the windows of a little house in Jerusalem. A baby was born!

As the neighbors and relatives went to visit Elisabeth, Zachariah, and the newborn baby they would look to the sky and shout, “God is so good!” It seemed that the whole city knew how good God had been to this family.

And there is no mystery there. The people knew because Elisabeth would tell everyone she met, “God has answered our prayers! He has given us a son! God is great!”

Zachariah would have to just nod, because he could not yet speak.

When the baby was eight days old, his parents took him to the temple for his special day. 

The priest looked at the child and spoke to the couple, “I love babies!” 

Then he turned to Zachariah and asked, “And what name have you chosen for your son this day?”

Zachariah’s mouth moved, but of course no words came out.

The priest laughed, “Oh yes, I forgot that our brother Zachariah can not talk. Let us name this boy after his father, Zachariah.”

Elisabeth lifted her head. She remembered what the angel had told her husband. “He shall be called John,” she spoke with a soft voice.

“John? Are you sure?” the priest asked as he looked to Zachariah, “That is a strange name, you know, no one in your family has the name John.”

They handed him a writing tablet and Zachariah wrote in big letters, “His name is JOHN!”

Zachariah then felt a tickle in his throat. He took a deep breath, and this time sound did come out from his mouth! He shrieked, “Praise be to God! God is great! Look at all the great things that God has done for us!!!!”

The people who had crowded around wondered, “Wow! This child must be very special! God is with him!”

As little baby John wiggled in his father’s arms, God began to get the people ready for the day when He would send His Son Jesus to be born.

There is a lot to notice in this story.

First, God knew an awful lot about little baby John, even before he was born. God knew his name, and more importantly He knew the special job that John would have. Perhaps you've heard some of the wonderful stories of John the Baptist? That is who this little baby grew up to be!

Times were tough, and it seemed so long ago that God had promised to send the Savior. People had forgotten about that wonderful promise. John's job was to get the people of Israel ready for the arrival of God's Son, Jesus. God planned every day of John's life, even before he was born!

Did you know that God didn't stop with John's life? Psalms 139:15-17 tells us that God has big plans for your life too! Even before you were born, God gave you an important job.

The first plan that I know God has for you is for you to one day realize the big trouble you are in because of disobeying His commands. This trouble is so big that there is no way you could handle it, and it does keep you away from God forever. Don't stop reading here! I am so happy to tell you that Jesus came and lived a perfect life and deserved NO punishment. But he chose to be punished terribly on the Cross, not for Himself, but for YOU (and me too!). All that God asks of you is to:

-BELIEVE that Jesus died on the Cross for your sins.

-TRUST Jesus to handle your sins. (Instead of trying to handle them yourself by doing things like trying to be really good, or going to church a lot.)

- ASK Jesus to take your sins with Him to the Cross.

Now, I am not smart enough to tell you what God has in store for you after that! I can tell you that he made you different than anybody else so that He could use you in some really cool way. God needs you to spread His Gospel message and show people His great love.

Another thing that this story teaches us is the job of the Holy Spirit. God does not expect us serve Him with our great big muscles or our incredible smarts or even our stunning looks! The Holy Spirit is a special part of God who shows us what God wants from us, and gives us the power to do it.

The Bible tells us that the reason that John would be able to do such great things was because the Holy Spirit was with him. (Check out Luke 1:15 & 17.)

This part is exciting. The Holy Spirit also comes and visits us.

Many people who decide to trust Jesus with their sins and become children of God actually heard God's simple plan (Believe, Trust, Ask) lots of times before they decided that they needed to ask Jesus THEMSELVES! They heard it, but they didn't do anything about it.

Why is that?

The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the one who one day opens our eyes and makes us able to understand the Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven. The Holy Spirit shows us the trouble we are in because of our sin. (Don't take my word for it! Find it in Romans 8:14-17!)

My friends, I hope that you agree with me that it is exciting to learn how God had a wonderful plan for John the Baptist. Don't forget that God also has big plans for you!