Choosing a Name

Choosing a name is easy. I mean, it must be ... mustn't it? What could be simpler than picking a name for a baby? You just choose a name that you like, don't you? I, for example, favour the name Gladys and would probably choose that at once. Or perhaps not, if the child was a boy.
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I know! Let's go for a fashionable name - one that a celebrity has chosen. The trouble is, will what's fashionable today still be fashionable tomorrow? Probably not or, by definition, it wouldn't be fashion. Perhaps I should choose a name that's already used in the family. I have sixteen uncles called Dawud, so that's a name which will find quick approval. On the other hand, it might lead to more confusion than we have at present.
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Perhaps it would be better to go for a name with some meaning. I know that Basil signifies brave, but the baby might grow up to be careful and cautious, and then I'd look foolish. No, choosing a name isn't as easy as it seems!
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But I'm not the only one with difficulties in this area. Do you remember me telling you about a woman called Elizabeth? She was the person who, in her old age, became pregnant for the very first time. Well, she gave birth to a boy, and all her neighbours and relatives came to visit her and the baby, because they wanted to share in her happiness.
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On the eighth day after the birth, the family's friends and relations were gathered together in Elizabeth's house for the ceremony of circumcision, at which everyone expected the boy would be named Zechariah, the same as his father.
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"No," said Elizabeth, "we're going to call him John."
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"But you can’t call him that,” said the relatives. "There's nobody in the family with that name.”
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They turned to Zechariah, who'd been silent ever since he'd encountered an angel, and asked him what he wanted to call the baby. Zechariah indicated that he needed a writing tablet and, once one was brought to him, astonished them all by writing upon it, "His name is John."
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Suddenly, Zechariah's tongue was released. Recovering the power of speech, he began to glorify God:
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"I will praise the Lord God," he said,
"because He's come down to ransom His people.
He has raised up a sign of salvation
in the house of His great servant David.
He told us long ago, by the mouth of His prophets,
that He would save us from all our enemies
and the power of the people who hate us.
He said He would show mercy unto our forefathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
the oath that He promised to Abraham,
that He would rescue us from our adversaries
so that we can then serve Him fearlessly
in truth and honesty for the rest of our lives.
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"And you, my son, shall be called a prophet of God,
for you will go before the Lord to clear a straight path ahead of Him,
to show His people the way of salvation
which comes from the forgiveness of sin,
because of the mercy of God.
This rising Sun will bring light from heaven
for all who suffer in darkness and the desperate shadow of death,
and will guide our feet along the bright path of peace."
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Zechariah's listeners were awestruck and, when on leaving the house, spread the news of these strange events throughout the surrounding countryside. Everyone who heard the reports was amazed and pondered their significance.
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"What will this child once he grows up," they asked each other, "because it's clear that the Lord has His hand on him."
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As it was, John grew up to be a great man of courage, but he lived in the desert until it was time to teach openly.
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