Good News!

The other day I heard about a really good sale.  Clothes for $2.00 at Penny's!  My friend told me at the bus stop and even brought out the evidence to show me all the deals she got.  As I ran down my list aloud of who all I could tell about it, she checked each person off.  "Nope, told them."  "Already let them know."  "Just sent her a text."

Our family went to the sale and loaded up on clothes for the boys and for my husband.  Then, a couple days later, my sister called me.  While we were talking she told me that she was at the store looking for clothes her son.  The store she was at had a sale on pjs for $4.99. 

"Oh, no," I told her, "you need to go to Penny's.  They are running a $2.00 sale.  We just went the other day and got a whole bunch of stuff for the boys."

"Really?!" she exclaimed.  "What all did they have?"

I told her about the things that we purchased and what I saw for her son.  At one point while I was speaking with her, she informed me that she was putting back the clothes that she had picked up in the store, walking to her car, and driving to Penny's.  Then she asked a question that I myself still don't have the answer to:

"Why didn't you tell me about it before now?"

Funny, even while I was in Penny's shopping, I did think about calling her.  I thought about my nephew and how cute he'd look in some of the clothes.  But I didn't take the initiative to call my sister and tell her the good news.  Can you feel where I'm going with this?...How many times have we seen someone that we care about in despair, suffering, making wrong choices, hanging with the wrong crowd, and not done anything about it?  As a Christian, I carry the good news of Jesus Christ inside of me.  My living is for no other reason than to lead people to Him.  But instead I get absorbed in "shopping" for myself.  Making my life a priority and calling anything that takes me away from my life a distraction. 

The Bible calls a relationship with Jesus "Good News".  It is "good" because He is the best gift that we will ever know.  It is "news" because people need to be told.  Who needs to tell them?  You and me.  It's up to us to use the the example of our own lives.  My neighbor showed me what she got from the store.  In the same way, our behavior shows people who don't know Jesus what He looks like.  When they see our lives and hear our testimony ('I got 10 outfits for $8!' or 'I forgave my brother for what he did to me'), it moves them to drop what they are doing (like my sister who put her clothes back, like your best friend who curses) and follow us to Jesus.