Luke 1:66 And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying… Stars have been interrogated and thought to prophesy and proclaim the future of a child, so that to this day "born under an unlucky star" is passed into a proverb. I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDHOOD. "What, then, shall this child be?" 1. What God designs it. God had a plan of life for this child of Zacharias and Elisabeth. 2. What training makes it. The fashioning power of parents and teachers is very great. God's plan may be marred in our hands. The life of John Stuart Mill proclaims the wonderful power that a parent can wield over the plastic nature of the child, and how instruction and training may shape a life. Great men owe much to pious parents like Zacharias and Elisabeth. II. THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD WITH CHILDHOOD. "For the hand of the Lord was with him." This stimulated the question. Curiosity as to the future of a child becomes greater when there are — 1. Marks of the supernatural. This was the case with John. 2. Tokens of the Divine protection. The myth of Romulus and Remus, suckled in their infancy by a she-wolf, enshrines a truth — those destined for greatness are under the special protection of the Almighty. The apostolic John Wesley was miraculously saved in childhood from a burning house. 3. Early evidences of greatness. Providence is shown in such evidences, leading, as they often do, to special care in education. This is what all should desire for their children, that the hand of the Lord may be with them. (Canon Vernon Hutton, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him. |
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