GOOD NEWS PEOPLE

SCRIPTURE

1 Timothy 6:11-21 (NRSV)
Life that really is life

But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time - he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge; by professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith.

Grace be with you.


DEVOTION

I love Paul’s advice to Timothy in today’s scripture reading. In short, I read this as an acknowledgement that although we live in a “bad news” kind of world, we are called to be “good news people” in it!

As people who have taken hold of eternal life, we are set free to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. We are equipped to fight the good fight of faith as we manifest attitudes which are generous, sharing, and ever-ready to serve those in need.

Any one of us can turn on the television, surf the net, or read the newspaper and find one hundred bad news stories. But, those of us who have put all of our hope in Jesus understand that good always triumphs over evil in the end!

The same God who resurrected Jesus from the dead, oversees all of our todays and tomorrows. This certainty fills us with the hope necessary to become God’s good news change agents in the world.

Wherever we go, and whatever we do, we are called to bring the love, joy, and peace of Jesus to everyone whom we meet. Simply by entering a room, we ought to bring more light, joy, and power to a place because of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us!

As good news people we are granted wisdom to know that all we see is not all that there is—or all that there can be. This profoundly shapes the way that we choose to live in the world. Unlike our brothers and sisters who have not put all of their hope in Jesus, we live by faith and not by sight, constantly reminding ourselves of the importance of choosing love over hate, joy over depression, peace over strife, hope over nihilism, and gratitude over complaint!

Our good news witness bears testimony to the fact that a life lived with—and for--Jesus, is a life lived well and most abundantly!

Today, will you recommit yourself to be a good news person in a bad news world? If so, please pray with me:

Holy God, there is so much bad news, please help me to be good news in the lives of those who need it. I thank you that the greatest news of all is that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ shall come again! Please help me to share this good news with everyone that I meet. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.


THE INVITATION

If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @
http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html