36 Days until Easter

36 Days until Easter
The skeptic.  The coward. The fervent follower.  Who am I and how do I respond to the news?  
Good news.  If there were ever good news, it came from Jesus.   In the book of Mark, he starts his writing by claiming who Jesus is.


    “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” -Mark 1:1
Typically, when someone delivers good news, it’s pretty significant.  When Josh calls with "news", it’s not about the weather. It's not chitchat. It’s about something with substance and sometimes even life changing.  Every single year when I go in for my oncology check-up there is news. Whether good or bad, it’s big and it matters. But there is no good news that is more significant than the good news of Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Son of God.  It’s good news. And it’s big. And it matters.
Jesus went from city to city, town to town, village to village, home to home, family to family, person to person, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.   As He went, He taught and forgave and healed, sharing the message that He was sent from heaven to confront sin and evil with an invitation to enter into God’s kingdom by following Him.  Although His ways were humble and His actions were selfless, there was authority in His message and there was power in His words. When He spoke, demons would flee. When He spoke, the dead would come to life.  When He spoke, water would turn into wine. When He spoke, the wind and waves would be still. So although He came to suffer as a servant, He came with all the authority in heaven and on earth. The good news wasn’t delivered to us in some trivial fashion.  The good news was delivered personally by the King of all authority Himself.
Peace.  That’s what the good news brings.  Peace that surpasses understanding.  Forgiveness landed on earth and it landed on me.  No matter what, there is good news that brings peace and forgiveness. So what do I do with this news?  There are options. Like everyone over the past couple thousand years, I can accept it, ignore it or reject it.  He gives me that choice. It’s not forced. We are all given a choice of what we do with the news that was brought to earth 2,000 years ago.  
Jesus explained the different responses of the good news through an illustration using different types of soil for planting a seed.  If the soil is hard, the seed can’t grow. I’ve seen seed that was spread over hard soil and it typically gets washed away or eaten. Jesus then describes a rocky soil that allows plant growth, but isn’t conducive of a strong root system.  Then there was the thorny soil. Plants that grow in thorny soil are choked out and overtaken. Then there is good, rich soil. That is the soil that allows growth, with a strong root system and bountiful fruit.


In the Bible, there were those who accepted the news and followed Jesus.  There were the ones who were neutral to the news, not doing much other than questioning or ignoring the message.  And then there were those who just flat out rejected the news. After thousands of years, those still seem to be the typical responses.


I wholeheartedly accept the good news and follow Jesus.  I need to take a good look at my soil. It needs to be soft, without rocks or thorns.  It needs to be a rich place for my faith to grow strong and deep.

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