In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Luke 1:39–45, ESV
It is such a wonder that a child in the womb would leap in faith. There are those that don’t believe that faith can be found in a young child, but You are the faith giver, and You pour out Your Spirit on those whom You have claimed. As the one bearing our Lord came to visit her cousin, we are reminded of the great joy that was felt by John prior to his birth. He knew the salvation promise that was before him. This forerunner of faith would carry this faith out, and the plan stood before him at his conception. We know that there is a plan that You have laid out for each of us. Sadly, we are often not faithful to the fulfillment of those plans. We often establish our plans and seek paths, forgetting to look to You. May our hearts be freed from the desire of this world and hunger for what You have prepared for us, and seek out Your promises. It is sad to watch many reject You and seek out other pathways. It breaks our hearts to watch many who mock You. Let their mockery not twist our hearts and minds and draw us into paths that lead us away from You. We easily lose sight of where You are calling us for things that appear better from a distance, but when viewed up close, we find them to be merely facades. Let our hearts leap like John’s at hearing Your word and promises.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.