By Campus Missionary Mary Rowley,
I can pinpoint one particular moment in my life when I was filled with nothing but joy. I was with my parents and we got a phone call from my brother. He was calling to tell us that he had proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes! I remember grabbing the phone out of my dad’s hand and jumping up and down with excitement. For weeks afterwards that was all I could talk about. I was filled with joy and I wanted to tell the world.
What’s the best news you’ve ever received? Maybe it was news of an engagement, a promotion, a scholarship, or good health. As Christians, we know that the best news we’ve ever received was news of a baby boy named Jesus – but many of us received that news as children, even infants, so we don’t think of it as “news.” It’s just something we’ve always known. We’re more likely to share our earthly news than our eternal joy.
But it is true. The Good News is the best thing we will ever hear. Isaiah 61 tells us that the news is even personalized for each of us. He says, “The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn” (verses 1-2). The Good News is for you, whether you are poor, brokenhearted, held captive, bound, or mourning. It is for you, specifically. God recognizes each of our individual needs and meets them one by one.
We are also anointed to bring this Good News. God anoints each and every one of us with a specific task, a particular vocation. We have been placed where we are for a reason – to share the Good News with those around us. And why wouldn’t we want to? After all, this Good News should fill us with great joy. We have been given the Good News, the best news. Now we have the opportunity to share it with the world. And we know that God will meet the needs of everyone we meet, because the Good News is personalized for them as well. As you go out today, consider how you can be the light of the world to those around you. Share the joy of your heart. Bring the good news.