At first Zachariah did not want to name his son ‘John’. There was nobody with that name in their family. Besides according to their tradition, the firstborn son should receive the father’s name. I looked up the meaning of these names and found out that the name Zachariah means ‘God remembers’, and then I looked up the name John and it literally means ‘God is gracious’. Zachariah had doubts, yet he believed in the promises of God. He was getting older and couldn’t believe that at his age and his wife Elizabeth’s age, they would be able to have a child. Had God forgotten them? No, God remembers, always remembers His promises. But it takes some time, but He never forgets about us. The name Zachariah means GOD REMEMBERS. God not only remembers but is always gracious. That’s why God chose that name for John -- GOD IS GRACIOUS, so that Zachariah would fully understand, that God never forgets His promises. He is gracious and fulfills them at the right time. We need to be thankful that our God always remembers and is always gracious.
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