Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached the same message: “Repent for the kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17), so it seems strange that we hear so little about the kingdom in most churches. Perhaps democratic Americans are averse to kings and kingdoms, but Jesus went about “preaching the good news of the kingdom” (4:23).
Let’s begin at the breakfast table. Some of us get our news from the internet, while others unfold newspapers as we sip our coffee. Have you noticed, we rarely read about good news? I suspect we begin our days with the news for the same reason we drink our coffee. It gets our blood boiling! Shootings, scandals, murder, and mayhem – our world is in chaos! As the elections approach, the candidates promise things will be good again, but were they ever as good as we remember? Anyone longing for the good ol’ days doesn’t remember dentistry from the 1950s, polio, smallpox, or segregation!
On the other hand, think about the good news of the kingdom of God: the end of evil, the end of chaos and fear – a new heaven and a new earth.
Let’s take a moment today and look around for some good news. It could be we haven’t tried to find it in so long, we’ve forgotten what it looks like!