John the Baptist - It's a Boy!

Luke 1:57-58 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

The terms "Crime of Passion", "Hate Crime", "Jealous Rage" - are all very familiar to us today. These words litter police reports, news headlines and court proceedings. We live in a world where our actions are controlled by our envy. A society that has led us to believe that we can not be successful until we match the Jones' and once we've accomplished that, the Johnsons' and so on and so on. What if we went back to the way Elizabeth's friends responded to her joy.

When Elizabeth finally had her baby - there was no backtalk about how old she was, there was no comment under the breath about the struggled marriage with a mute man, no one questioned why God had chosen to speak to her about the birth of John.

It says that her neighbors and relatives 'shared her joy'. When was the last time you were happy simply because someone you knew had experienced a joyous moment. Whether it was a promotion or bonus, a gift or a new relationship - without the undertone of wishing it were you. I wonder what our headlines would read today if we all had neighbors like Elizabeth...