Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
“‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’”
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
Have you ever had items in your to-do list keep getting pushed to the next day, and the next day, and the next day, ad infinitum? They seem to never get done.
Or have you ever been a procrastinator who has trouble getting started on a project?
Or have you been a perfectionist who can’t seem to complete the job because you can’t find the perfect plan for the project?
Or have you ever been in a state of depression and just can’t find the energy to tackle anything?
I’m going to take a risk and be vulnerable here and say that I have experienced all of these situations at one time or another, and still do. I am a recovering perfectionist and procrastinator, and I struggle with depression.
Anybody with me here? Come on, don’t be shy. Don’t leave me hangin’ all by myself.
But there is one little thought that has helped me so many times to get unstuck and to begin making progress. It’s a simple little phrase that I just have to share with you. It’s not magical and it’s not a panacea and it doesn’t work every time. But most times it helps me to get into gear and begin to execute and make things happen.
Here it is:
Just do the very next thing.
That’s it. You don’t need to have everything worked out in your head or the perfect plan committed to paper. You just need to do the very next thing that needs to get done.
Very often procrastination means that we have a big goal or project but haven’t yet defined a specific task to do. We write down “Wilson report” on our to-do list, but that’s not a task. We need to write a task down that can be completed. And again, we don’t need the entire plan in front of us, just the next step, which might be “Call Wilson for clarification on what he wants in his report.”
That crazy Wilson. He never gives details.
This phrase is also effective if, like me, you have trouble getting your engine going in the morning. When I wake up to the sound of my alarm, it is so tempting to want to go back to bed, or to want to skip exercise. But I just tell myself that all I have to do is to take the very next step, to do the very next thing: put on my socks and shoes. And it works. Usually.
So the next time you find yourself stuck, try what I do. Say it with me:
Just do the very next thing. Just take the next step. Just put one foot in front of the other.
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
