Today's Reading:
Luke 1:41-42
"And she spoke out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" (V42)
Women, who are those human beings brought out of the ribs of men, have very critical roles to play in the world created by God. God called them "helpmates" to the men. Aside from this, they are to bring to the world, the next generations carried in their wombs. No wonder it is said that if women fail in their roles as wives and mothers, many generations are bound to fail subsequently. It is, therefore, imperative that women position themselves to be blessed by God. To be blessed means to be happy, spiritually prosperous with life, joy and satisfaction in God's favour and salvation, regardless of the outward conditions. (Amplified Bible). It is a fact that not all women can qualify to be blessed for many reasons. Examples abound in the Scriptures of women who were cheats, like Rebecca; those who were abusive like Haggai, the undisciplined ones like Lot's wife; some were lost morally: some were like Jezebel, and so on. Yet there were many women recorded in the Scriptures who lived exemplary lives and were blessed.
In Today’s reading, it is evident that Elizabeth qualified to be blessed among all women. What qualified her?
• First, she was a true child of God, evident from the fact that she was filled with the Holy Ghost (v. 4).
• Given her condition of barrenness up to that point, without any record of evil utterances against God and people around her, she must have been a very patient and persevering woman.
• As the wife of a priest, Zacharia, she must have been a very good example to other women in the community and the congregation of the synagogue in which the husband served. In fact, verse 6 records that both of them were righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless.
• Elizabeth recognized and appreciated the love and mercy of God towards her, by making her conceive. She said that the Lord had looked on her and dealt well with her, by taking away her reproach among the people.
• As a reward for the foregoing in the life of Elizabeth, the Lord, through the Holy Ghost who had filled her, spoke out loud that she was blessed among women, and also blessed was the fruit of her womb (v. 4)
Other women who were blessed in the Scriptures included: Ruth, the Moabite who was loving and faithful to her mother-in-law after her son's death. She was rewarded with another husband Boaz; and with a son, named Obed, who was in the lineage of our Savior Jesus Christ (Ruth 4:10, 13, 17-22). The woman in Proverb 31 is also an example to us, and others too many to be recorded here. As one follows the examples of these women, one is sure to be blessed among women in the world and also in the fruits of the womb. This goes on from generation to generation.
CHRISTIE KUPOLUYI
Prayer:
Father, help us to be your own true children, especially as women, in Jesus name.
Lord, as you came to show an example to mankind in the world, make us living examples too, in Jesus name.
Lord, help us to work and walk towards being blessed and also in the fruits of our wombs, in Jesus name.
Father, raise blessed women in the Church and by extension in our nation, in Jesus name.
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