December 22, 2022: Luke 2:17 - Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ

“Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.’ - Luke 2:17

The lowly shepherds had immediately gone to Bethlehem to seek the Savior, whose birth had been proclaimed to them by an angel, and they had found the Babe lying in a manger, just as they were told He would be. They heard the good news, they believed it enough that they went and sought the Lord, they found Him, and now they were ready to tell many others about Him.

This is the perfect example for the world today. Before I was saved by Jesus, I heard about God from my mother. It wasn’t anything in depth but I knew He was real and I knew about the Bible, His word. Growing up, I was always longing to know Him and I didn’t really know who Jesus was. We didn’t ever go to church, but I had this tug in my heart that wouldn’t go away. After getting married I was still seeking Him, going to a few churches along the way but left feeling empty and as though it was onlyour money they cared for and not the salvation of our souls.

In the meantime, my family had expanded with two children and I was struggling emotionally and spiritually. I was filling my life with everything but Him. Never feeling satisfied, I was filling my life with junk food when what I really needed was the bread of life. Over the years, I had started reading the Bible but had never made it past Genesis, till one day, I decided I would read the entire Bible for myself, no matter how long it took. I needed to know why Christianity is the only way to be saved; what makes it different from all the rest? It took me four years but I finally read the entire Bible, cover to cover. Yes, I was a slow reader but I was soaking it in, like a sponge, letting the living waters of life flow through me, reviving me.

I will always remember where I was, on a layover in Dallas waiting for my next flight for a work trip, when I first read Ephesians 6 that describes putting on the whole armor of God. That passage of Scripture really struck me like nothing I had ever read before. It made me realize that we truly are in a spiritual war for our souls. That is why God sent His beloved Son Jesus to offer all of us sinners a way out of our sin so that we can live a life in perfect peace with Him when we die. Our lives here on earth are but a brief stop on our way to eternity and we will spend it in one of two places: heaven or hell. For all who believe in Jesus, we will spend it in heaven with Him. For those who don’t, either by outright rejection of His free gift of salvation from sins or by not making a choice will spend it in a place called hell, eternally separated from God and all that is good, forever.

Finally one day, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I truly believed in Him as Messiah. I finally understood what the Bible was all about: it wasn’t about knowing of Him; it was about knowing Him - Jesus. I was born again, and I was ready to share the good news with everyone I knew and even some I didn’t know. I wish I could tell you that when I did, that they all believed and turned to Him but they didn’t. I don’t know of a single one who has. Perhaps they are saved and I just don’t know, but God does.

My prayer is that like the shepherds, I will continue to share the good news, unashamedly, planting that seed of faith, and one day, that seed will be watered by another believer, and then one day, another believer will see that person who heard the good news through a planted seed of faith will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Then they will tell others of the good news about Him, just like the lowly shepherds did. 🙏🏻✝️