How the Good News changes my life

Yesterday I was driving into Minneapolis from work and I felt peaceful, content, and filled with joy - and the best part was that I knew it wasn't fleeting.


This world is full of darkness and pain. People are full of rage - violent fights are started on our University campus hospitalizing friends for months. Wars are raging in countries all over the world - friends are having to escape their homes before bombs destroy them. Flying has become so dangerous that our carry-on belongings must be visible in clear plastic bags (the reason for them, not the safety precautions themselves, are what I find loathsome). Despite the seeming unnaturalness of death, people we love are dying - I cry often knowing people I care deeply for are presently grieving over the death of a dear friend, brother, and role model.


Without Christ and without the hope of a restored world, to experience this kind of peace and contentment (which surpasses all comprehension) I would have to help myself to a sizable helping of denial. But standing on the promises He's made to us, I can, knowing full well the evil and pain lurking everywhere, set my heart at rest.

Knowing this intellectually is not enough to bring any peace, joy, love, patience, etc.; it is only by the "assurance of faith" that these have begun to become real in my life:

And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:21-23)


Because of the Good News, I need never worry or be brought to despair because "He who promised is faithful." I can delight in the Lord and adorn myself with the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, and in so doing with a thankful and prayerful heart, my heart is set to rest and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.



Other things the Good News does:

- It can serve to make all my deeds motivated by love and not out of a desire to get something in return or to please others...

- It makes me able to delight righteously in precious moments (like an open road, windows down, favorite song on the radio), and precious friends I've been given (even if only for a season) without any fear of mistaking those treasured people and moments for the real deal.

- It redeems us and promises an eternity of unending discovery and joy. Having confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believing in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I have been made righteous and I am saved (link) and therefore can hope on an eternity so wonderful that we can barely begin to imagine it.




I'm supremely thankful for the Good News, and am excited to hear how It has changed some of your lives. Feel free to bless me with your additional comments!