A friend called me and said, “I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.” I replied, “Give me the bad news first” and he did so. After the bad news was out of the way, all the angst and any fear that I had was gone because I knew the good news was all that was left. Then my friend proceeded to tell me the good news and it overshadowed the impact of the bad news. That’s just the way I like it. GIVE ME THE BAD NEWS FIRST.
Maybe I unwittingly picked up this life philosophy from the Bible. After all, the Bible starts off with the BAD NEWS: Man sinned, he got separated from God, the world plummeted into a state of disorder because of a curse, man tried to find his way back to God but continually fell short. Disease, despair and slavery are recorded on a regular basis. Yes, the Old Testament is like God telling us “THE BAD NEWS FIRST.” He got it all out of the way up front.
But, then came “The Good News” … the news that you and I are recipients of. The good news is the New Testament: That God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. The good news is that all of our sins are washed away by confessing the Lordship of Jesus. The good news is that we are forgiven. The good news is that health can be restored through God’s gift of healing. The good news is that we can receive eternal and abundant life. The good news is that LOVE is on the throne. The good news is that everything that’s been stolen and lost can be restored back to us. All the bad news has been overshadowed by this good news!
Don’t you like getting the good news last?!
