Offer the Good News
For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:13-15
Even a casual glance at the life of Jesus while He was on earth could not ignore His passion for people. He stated, “[I] came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). He was talking about us. He also said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). This was His passion: rescuing sinners. This must be our passion too.
The signs of the times are all around us. Our culture has never been more hostile to our message. Never has it needed it more. We who know the Lord Jesus remember what it was like to live without Him. We remember what it was like to be spiritually dead and without hope. Trying to raise a family, stay happily married, or run a business without Jesus is possible but crushingly difficult. Doing so results in emptiness and needless grief. Man has no purpose apart from His Creator. Life is meaningless without Him.
If you know Christ, you have found life. You can offer good news to your world. All around you every day are people God dearly loves who need to hear the gospel. But to paraphrase Paul, “How can they hear without a preacher?”
Be on the lookout today for a moment God has appointed for you to show His love, and be ready to tell what Christ has done for you to someone who might never come to a church. Habakkuk discerned his culture and feared for those around him at the judgment to come. He prayed that God would initiate a great harvest in the midst of desperate times: “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). Habakkuk was eager to join God in His work. He pleaded for mercy on behalf of his nation. Ask God to give you a backbone of steel and a heart like Jesus. Then shine His light on all who will look.
Oh God, thank You for saving me. I have not forgotten what You have done for me through Jesus. I live in a world so weighed down by lostness. I will obey and speak the gospel as You arrange opportunities. Holy Spirit, go before me to convict and woo their hearts. Let Your Word be fruitful. Give me courage to love like Jesus. In His name, amen.
