Reflect today on ways you have not been faithful to God in your life

He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name," and everyone was amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue released and he spoke blessing God. Luke 1: 63-64

Zacharias provides a great testimony to all of us who have sinned for lack of faith in God, but after suffering the humiliation of his sin, he became truly faithful and ended up "blessing God".

We know its history well. His wife became pregnant by John the Baptist by a miracle in her old age. When it was revealed to Zechariah by an angel that this would happen, he did not trust this promise and doubted. The result was that he remained silent until the time John was born. It was at that moment that Zechariah acted in fidelity to the revelation of God by naming his child "John" as the angel had requested. This act of loyalty by Zacharias loosened his tongue and began to pronounce the praises of God.

This testimony of Zechariah should be a source of inspiration for all those who seek to follow the will of God in their lives but have failed. There are many times when God speaks to us, we listen to him, but we cannot believe what he says. We fail in fidelity to his promises. The result is that we suffer the effects of that sin.

At first, the effects of sin on our lives may seem like punishment. Indeed, in many ways they are. It is not a punishment from God; rather, it is a punishment for sin. Sin has devastating consequences on our lives. But the good news is that those consequences of sin are allowed by God as a way to bring us back to faithfulness to Him. And if we allow them to humiliate and change us as Zacharias did, we will be able to move from a life of infidelity to the will to God in a life of faithfulness. And a life of faithfulness will eventually allow us to sing the praises of our God.

Reflect today on ways you have not been faithful to God in your life. But think about it in the context of hope. I hope that God will receive you back and transform your life if you return to him. God is waiting and his mercy is abundant. Let his mercy fill you with a heart that blesses the goodness of God.

Lord, help me to see my past sins not so much in despair, but as reasons to return to you in greater fidelity. No matter how many times I fell, help me get up and faithfully sing your praises. Jesus I believe in you.