Women of Note in the New Testament
43
from his mother’s womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he
turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and
power of Elias, 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.... And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and
was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.”
An angel from heaven came to instruct Zacharias and Elisabeth
as to how they should train and educate their child, so as to work in
harmony with God in preparing a messenger to announce the coming
of Christ. As parents they were to faithfully cooperate with God in
forming such a character in John as would fit him to perform the part
God had assigned him as a competent worker. John was the son of
their old age, he was a child of miracle, and the parents might have
reasoned that he had a special work to do for the Lord, and the Lord
would take care of him. But the parents did not thus reason; they
moved to a retired place in the country, where their son would not be
exposed to the temptations of city life, or induced to depart from the
counsel and instruction which they as parents would give him. They
acted their part in developing a character in the child that would in
every way meet the purpose for which God had designed his life. By
no careless neglect on their part shall their son fail to become good
and wise, “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.” They sacredly
fulfilled their obligation.—
The Signs of the Times, April 16, 1896
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Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
[50]
When the Majesty of heaven became a babe and was entrusted
to Mary, she did not have much to offer for the precious gift. She
brought to the altar only two turtledoves, the offering appointed for
the poor; but they were an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. She could
not present rare treasures such as the wise men of the East came to
Bethlehem to lay before the Son of God; yet the mother of Jesus was
not rejected because of the smallness of her gift. It was the willingness
of her heart that the Lord looked upon, and her love made the offering
sweet. So God will accept our gift, however small, if it is the best