What Zechariah has done here is more momentous than we realize. To have your firstborn son named after you was a way of having your own name and legacy continue after your death. It was a great honor to be able to know that your very name would live beyond you. Zechariah, advanced in years, knew that John would likely be his only son—when the conception of your firstborn is a certified miracle announced by an angel, you do not expect a second. Yet Zechariah gave this honor away, so that his son could be named John as Gabriel said.
We are likewise asked to give away our earthly honors for the sake of God, but how can we do this? Thankfully, there is no need to reinvent the wheel—we need only ask what made Zechariah want to give his honor away. Zechariah recognized how God was bursting onto the scene, and he saw the newness that God was bringing into the world. A radical action on God’s part demanded an equally radical response on Zechariah’s. Ask yourself how God has brought radical newness into your life, ask what the equally radical response should be, and be ready to throw away your honor for God.