Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord
When I was four or five years old, each night my mom read to me a chapter from the book entitled Lassie, Go Home. Lassie, of course, is the famous collie who had her own TV program in the 50’s and before that she was from an actual book. The story is that Lassie gets separated from her people and the whole book is Lassie struggling to get back home through rain, fire, hail, snow, mean people, starvation and privation. I remember my mom reading this book and tearing up. She almost cried because we felt bad for this dog. Eventually Lassie does indeed return home and finds her people once again.
In Luke 1 there is a call to return, a call to go home. It is God’s telling Zacharias about the son he was about to receive from God, a son that we call John the Baptist. What would John the Baptist do? Verse 16 says it in a nutshell, “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” John was a man who was going to come in the spirit and power of Elijah. In John 10:41 people said, “John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true.” So, John was a man of power to turn the children of Israel to God, the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the just, in short, to prepare the way for the Lord.
So, what is revival? Revival is a turning to God. John often spoke of repentance, a change of mind. Revival is returning to God. It is not just a set of rules, a code of conduct or law, but a return to God Himself. If that process should begin anywhere, it should begin in the individual in our homes, and can spread from there.
In Luke 1, a return to God is pictured by the home. Jesus told a story in Luke 15 about a prodigal son who wasted his money in riotous living, and the Bible says that he came to himself and then came to his father. That is what revival is, coming to oneself and then coming back to God. So, in Luke a return to God is pictured by the home.
In the first place, a return to God begins at home. Say there is a revival meeting at your church, and at the invitation a young person responds and says, “I want to be obedient to my parents.” Who are likely to be among the first people to verify whether he actually does that, whether he turns to God by obeying his parents? Wouldn’t it be his parents? Here comes a wife who says, “I’ve been guilty of gossip, and I’m going to change that?” Who is going to be among the first to know if that has happened in her life? It will be her family. How about a dad who is engaged in rotten television or lust in his life, or perhaps he is unfair and unjust with his family. Who will be among the first to know whether things have changed in his life? It will be his family.
In verse 17 it says that John was to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. That would begin with the hearts of the fathers being turned toward the children. So, a return to God begins at home.
Secondly, and more specifically, a return to God should begin with the dad. Don’t wait for others to make things right. Can revival spread from young people to adults? Certainly, it can, but that is not the normal, natural course of things or the supernatural intent. It is God’s intent that revival should begin from the top down.
In short, revival should begin with me and you. If you happen not to be the father in your home or maybe you don’t have a home per se, don’t wait for others. Do what is right in your own life. But certainly, if you are the dad, revival should begin with you. Dad, take the lead. A return to God means submission. For a dad, a return to family means leadership, and in Luke the two are tied together.
So, a return to God is pictured by the home. It begins with the people you know the best, and a should begin from the top down and spread from there.