Lu 1:9 ‘he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burning incense’

Zacharias and the presence of the Lord

Zacharias was chosen by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord whilst he was performing his priestly service according to Luke 1:8. The lot was like a dice which was thrown and if it turned out one way the answer was yes, and if its any other the answer was no. The theory behind it was that there was no such thing as luck or chance. This was a way in which God could speak, lead, and guide His people.

Luck speaks of chance and things being random. This Christmas I will seek to bless people, but I will not wish them luck. In your life, you can know that God does not leave things to chance. He has a plan for you, a destiny, a future and every reason in which you can look forwards with hope. Zechariah prepared by his life style and his attitude to be in the presence of God, but it was God  who finally drew him there.

Read Psalm 84  and see how this mirrors Zacharias experience. Psalm 84: 5 – 7 says:

How Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways Zion! Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; the early rain also covers it with blessings. They go from strength to strength, every one of them appears before God in Zion.

We prepare for being in the holiest presence of God by preparing and making way for God to be in our hearts. It is in our hearts that they highways to Zion are located. This means how we think, how we feel, how we decide and our general lifestyle. We create the pathway for God to come in to our hearts. My prayer is that as we do this we create a pathway to get into a much deeper place of intimacy in His presence.

How? Ask God to lead you to a couple of verses in the Bible. Read them, read them again, keep reading them even more and then let your thoughts flow around the words that are starting to sink into your heart. As you follow through on what you said you will find that a highway is being created in your heart.

Prayer.

Lord, lead me to something in Your Word. Let Your Word create in me a pathway of life through which You will flow. Help me to think, feel and decide according to your Word. Let Your life flow through this pathway into every area, avenue and person I encounter. Using me to bring Heaven to earth. Amen.