Daily Devotional for Wednesday, December 3

Zacharias’ Service

“And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord,” Luke 1:8, 9.

One of my favorite times of the day as a teacher is recess. I love watching the students have fun, make decisions and solve conflicts. I love letting them figure it out on their own when small problems arise. We have all been there, and you know in the diplomatic world of “dibs”, a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors might be the fairest decision-making strategy. This is not uncommon, especially in Scripture when the practice of casting lots was used.

The priests were grouped into divisions, each one serving for a week at a time twice in one year. Within those divisions, there were hundreds of priests, meaning that Zachariah probably only served one or maybe two other times in his life. When God gave instructions for Tabernacle worship, there was an altar right outside the Holy of Holies to burn incense (Exodus 30). This task was one of the rarest duties in the Temple at the time of Zachariah and could only be delegated to a priest once in their lifetime. In this moment, to fulfill God’s plan, the lot fell on Zachariah.

The burning of incense symbolized prayer. Our prayers should be a constant aroma to God as we stand before His presence. Therefore, it became common to gather at the Temple during the two times a day the incense was offered for a time of prayer. Zachariah was just faithfully serving, and God used this moment while he was alone in worship to reveal the answer to his prayers for all those years. Maybe God needs you to be in a specific place at a specific time before He can reveal the answer to your prayers.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

May your prayers be a continual incense to God.

Ashley Ridings