Luke 1:5

Luke 1:5 says, There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.  We are given a pretty good description of who Zacharias and Elizabeth were.  He was a priest and she was descended from Aaron, a priest himself. They were a religious couple.  Verse six adds, And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Not only were they religious by their birth line, they lived up to God's calling.  They were both righteous before God.  We may be from the right family and righteous in our own eyes, but what masters is if we are righteous before God.  This can only happen by accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse seven continues, And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.  They were old and without children.  We might think that God would have blessed them with children since they were righteous in His sight, but children are a gift of God.  We do not determine what God blesses us with simply by naming and claiming it.  Verse eight states, And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,  Zacharias was going about his duties as a priest.  He was not focusing on his own disappointments or desires, but was doing what God had called him to do.  We cannot allow our disappointments or desires to keep us from doing what God has called us to do.  Verse nine adds, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.  His duty this day as a priest was to burn incense in the temple of the LORD.  Whatever God calls us to do each day, and as followers of Christ whatever we do should be under His calling or guidance, we must do it for His glory. Verse ten continues, And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.  The temple was filled with people who were praying.  When we are in God's house, before anything else, we should be praying for His guidance and to give Him thanks for all that He has done for us.  Verse eleven declares, And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.  While doing what he normally did as a priest,  Zacharias saw an angel of the LORD standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  We may never see an angel during a worship service, but we as Christians will always have the Holy Spirit, not standing by the altar, but living in our heart. Verse twelve adds, And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.  Zacharias was a priest and a righteous man in the eyes of God, but when he saw the angel he was troubled and became afraid.  I am not sure what our reaction today would be as followers of Christ, but I have a feeling that we would react the same way.