WHAT KIND OF CHILD WILL THIS BE?

WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL

JUNE 27,  2021

TOPIC: WHAT KIND OF CHILD WILL THIS BE?

BY T. O. BANSO 

“And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, ‘What kind of child will this be?’ And the hand of the Lord was with him” (Luke 1:66 New King James Version).

Throughout the pregnancy of Elizabeth, her husband, Zacharias, was dumb following an encounter he had had with an angel of the Lord while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division. The angel came to announce to him that his wife, who had been barren for years, would conceive. When he saw the angel, he was overwhelmed with fear.

Luke 1:13-17 says, “But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 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’” (New King James Version).

Zacharias wasn’t expecting this kind of news because he and his wife were already old. They must have stopped expecting a baby. They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, yet they had no child for many years (verse 5-6).  

Therefore, Zacharias asked the angel how he would know that what he said would happen since he and his wife were old.  “And the angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time’” (verses 19-20  New King James Version).

He was dumb from then until the circumcision of the child, John the Baptist, born by his wife in fulfilment of the words of the angel. That day, the relatives and neighbours made signs to him to ask the name he wanted the child to be given. They had wanted to name him after his father but the mother disagreed, saying that he should be named John. This was surprising because no member of the family was bearing that name.

Luke 1:62-65 says, “So they made signs to his father — what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, ‘His name is John.’ So they all marveled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea” (New King James Version).

Everyone was amazed that Elizabeth and her husband gave the same name. And they were afraid when immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. “And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, ‘What kind of child will this be?’ And the hand of the Lord was with him” (Luke 1:66 New King James Version).

Look at that significant question everyone present asked at the circumcision of the new baby born to this couple: What kind of child will this be?  Remember that the child being referred to was John the Baptist who was born to the family of Zacharias and Elizabeth after several years of barrenness.

To everyone in the neighbourhood, the born baby was just an answer to years of prayers. Nobody had an idea what the baby would become. That was why those present at his circumcision asked: What kind of child will this be? They were not aware of what the angel of the Lord had spoken about the child to Zacharias in Luke 1:13-17.

John the Baptist grew up to pursue and fulfil God’s purpose for his life as the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the one who announced His ministry. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness (John 1:23; Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:4).

Jesus said of John when he was in prison that among those born of women, there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist but the least in the kingdom of God was greater than him (Luke 7:28). But when John was born years before then, many people never knew what kind of child he would be.

The same thing applied to Moses at his birth. Jochebed, the mother of Moses, bore a son but she didn’t know that she had given birth to the deliverer of the Israelites from the Egyptians. The only reason she hid Moses was that he was a beautiful child. She had no idea the kind of child Moses would be. Pharaoh had ordered that every son born to the Hebrews should be cast into the river, and every daughter saved (Exodus 2:1-6).

Exodus 2:1-4 says, “And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him” (New King James Version). Pharaoh’s daughter eventually saved Moses’ life.

You may be pregnant with a child now, but do you know what kind of child the baby would be? Advancement in medicine and technology can tell you the sex of a child while still in the womb but that is only as far as it can go; it can’t tell you what kind of child the baby in the womb will be – the destiny. Do you know what kind of child the baby you’re nursing now will be?

What of Samuel? After waiting for years, Hannah gave birth to a son (1 Samuel 1:19-20). But she had no idea that she had given birth to a prophet whose none of his words would fall to the ground (1 Samuel 3:19).   

If only people around Mary and Joseph had known that it was Jesus Christ the Savior of the world that Mary was carrying in her womb, they probably would have created space for them in the guest room so that she could be delivered of her baby there. “And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house” (Luke 2:7 Bible in Basic English).

The angel told Manoah’s wife and her husband that their son, Samson, would be a Nazarene who would begin to deliver his people from the Philistines (Judges 13:3-5). True to the angel’s words, Samson began to attack the Philistines.

Judges 13:24-25 says, “So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol” (New King James Version).

That was the beginning of the rise of Samson to a man of great exploits, which later qualified him to be mentioned as one of the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:32). But there was nothing spectacular about his birth to have made anyone, except his parents, suspect the kind of child he would be.

In Judges 11:1, the Bible says that Jephthah’s mother was a harlot. When she gave birth to Jephthah, she didn’t know he was destined to deliver Israel one day from the Ammonites. His brothers chased him away from the land because they didn’t want the son of a harlot to share their father’s inheritance with them.

They might not like Jephthah, but they couldn’t ignore him – because he was destined to solve their problem. The elders of Gilead had to go and beg him in the land of Tob to come to deliver them. And Judges 11:32 says Jephthah led his army against the Ammonites and the Lord gave him victory.

Jephthah’s case underscores the truth that one’s negative circumstances of birth cannot cancel one’s destiny. Jesus was laid in the place where the cattle had their food, but it didn’t diminish His destiny. God has a glorious destiny for every child born and is prepared to make it come to pass regardless of the circumstance of birth. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 New King James Version).

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (New Living Translation). God has predestined what He wants every child to do. Every child is marvelous workmanship of God, God’s masterpiece sent, to this earth for a mission. Parents have a responsibility to nurture their children and help them to discover and fulfill God’s purpose for their lives.

What kind of child will this be? What kind of child will your child be?  Probably God has told you some things about the child in your womb or the children you already have; probably not. But God knows. David said, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:14-16 New King James Version). May God find you faithful in parenting your children as He expects of you.

What kind of child will this be?

TAKE ACTION!

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto you today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and resurrected the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, thank you for my children whom you have fearfully and wonderfully made. Help me to nurture them and train them up in the way they should go so that when they are old, they will not depart from it.  I receive the race to equip them to discover and fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. My children shall become who God has destined them to be; their destinies shall not be perverted in Jesus’ name.

(For over 600 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit: www.cedarministry.org).

T. O. Banso is the President, Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org