How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isaiah 52:7
The Best Good News
"I have your biopsy results here. You have non-small cell lung cancer."
For many people, this news would be devastating, but not for Karen. For months, Karen had been achy and tired. Each time she started coughing, it seemed like she couldn’t stop.
When the doctor told her she had cancer, she wasn't mad. She wasn't sad. She was relieved. She had been struggling for quite some time. Now she knew why.
"We caught it early. But we're going to have to move quickly. We'll have to schedule your surgery soon."
So often we think good news is any positive story. But good news is more than a pleasant forecast, an uplifting anecdote, or a happy coincidence. Real good news marches into enemy territory—unfazed—and trounces its foe convincingly.
We were born sick. At times, we recognize the symptoms of our disease. We don't function the way we should. We don't always do the right thing—even when we hoped to. We can be lazy and greedy, angry and restless. Sin infected us all.
God's Word publishes the best good news in the world. The Lord saw our dreadful condition. We could not heal ourselves, so he came to heal us. That's why God sent his Son, Jesus. Jesus lived the perfect life we could not. Jesus did the good that we would not. Then Jesus suffered the consequences of our sin-disease on the cross. The prophet Isaiah tells us that through these wounds, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).
God has identified what ails us—our sin. The Lord caught it in time and moved quickly. He marched from heaven to earth to bring us good news. Because of Christ’s sacrifice we can finally rest. Because our God reigns, we have peace. How beautiful are the messengers who bring this good news!
Prayer:
Lord, you know my struggles with sin. Cleanse me. Heal me. Forgive me. Make me whole again through your powerful gospel that I may bring good news to other sin-sick souls. Amen.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Devotions are brought to you by WELS and 
Print Friendly
No comments:
Post a Comment