Telling the Good News
I am so happy to be able to share some good news with you today. I just received a notification that my granddaughter has been officially accepted to the college of her choice. She is excited, and I am excited for her. That is the next step in her life, and I pray that it will help to open the way for her to do just what God has for her life. I don't get to hear good news like that very often, but when I do I love to share it with others, don't you?
The truth is that we , as Christians, have some good news to share with others all of the time. It is the best news anyone can ever hear. Philip, one of the deacons in the church at Jerusalem, shared the Good News with a whole city and an Ethiopian official on his way home from visiting the Temple. (Acts 8:35) "So beginning with this Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus." I hope you know the Good News about Jesus, and I pray you are telling others the Good News, too.
The word "Gospel" in Greek means good news. The Christians used this word to let everyone know what Jesus had done for them and for the remission of sins. The facts of the gospel are that Jesus died for our sins, He was buried, and He arose on the third day. (I Corinthians 15:1-4) Like the apostle Paul says there it is the good news by which we are saved and on which we stand every day. The good news is that this salvation is open to everyone who trusts Jesus to forgive them, it is free, and it includes the forgiveness of sins and eternal life with the Lord. What could be better than that?
What burdens me is that I don't share that Good News with others as much as I should. I am afraid that is the case for most believers. We are afraid people won't accept it well, or they will get upset with us. Please, let's decide right now to share the Good News every chance we get, and leave the results up to God. We can't save anyone, and we can't argue them into accepting. We tell the Good News using some Bible verses just like Philip did. Then, God can take His Word and prick their hearts to trust Jesus.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Acts 9-11.