Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
Good news does not mean that no one got hurt for the news to be good news. When a war is finally over, it is good news for those who won the war. However, the winning army is still mourning their dead as much as those who lost the war. When the residents of an oceanfront town survive a catastrophic hurricane, that is good news for the survivors, but they still have to get through the devastation and start rebuilding all that was lost. Good news to some is not always good news to others. We have seen good news for some become devastating news for others when one political party wins an election and the losers threaten to revolt against the results and sometimes even threaten to move to Canada.
The word Gospel is translated from two Greek words found in the New Testament—euangelion, which means ‘good news,’ and euangelizomai, which means ‘to proclaim the good news.’ We who are in Christ have some good news to share. The world is full of bad news and the anxiety that is produced by it is palpable. The need for real good news is a number one want on people’s wish lists. Prov. 12:25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. Just a bit of good news can go a long way. Letting people know that the sky is not falling will bring smiles to many faces. Prov. 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. It does not take much good news to change a person’s perspective.
We are inundated with bad news all day long because, for some reason, bad news sells advertising spots on media platforms. Whole revenue streams are dependent on the news going from bad to worse. Therefore, every event regardless of the degree of newsworthiness is catastrophized as much as possible so that every ounce of bad news can be squeezed out of the story. Then the psychologists of the world debate and reason why people are weighed down with anxiety, depression and fear. Luke 21:26a Men’s hearts will fail them for fear and for looking upon those things which are coming on the earth.
There is good news all around us, however, we need to look where God says it can be found. The Lord expects us to look for His kingdom’s good news and live by its principles as if this particular good news is all that we could ever want. Why is that? Because it is ‘the everything’ that man needs and the gift God has given us! The more our hearts want what God has for us, the better we will freely receive what God has given us in Christ. Unless we desire and value the good news as if it were the pearl of great price, we will miss what God has for us. Matt. 13:45 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!
What Jesus did through His sacrifice on the cross for mankind is good news, because it is of eternal value. This is not some oh-hum religious activity voted upon at the yearly convention of a denomination. Jesus, by offering Himself and obeying unto the death of the cross for our sins, is really good news that will save a lost soul and also bring healing to the weary existence of those who have had enough of what the world is offering. The world has been offering the same old empty religiosity from the beginning of sin’s appearance within the world. We have a better choice. From the first announcement of Jesus’ birth, He is declared good news for the whole world. Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord.
We must get out of the funk the world is perpetually promoting and become agents of the Lord’s good news. Isa. 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. There is a saying, “You cannot cure despair when people find comfort in it.” That may be, but as Christians, we can live within the fullness of Christ’s good news to the point that those who are in despair will want God’s goodness for themselves because they see us living fully within it. Now, that is some good news.
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