Can you think of a time when you were simply bursting with good news that you had to tell someone else about? That is how the disciples after Jesus was raised from death and after they had been filled with Holy Spirit. There’s a song that by Cat Stevens which says:
“Oh, I can’t keep it in, I’ve gotta let it out,
I’ve got to show the world, world’s got to see,
see all the love, love that’s in me.”
Cat Stevens was singing about his love for another person rather than love for God but the idea is exactly the same. Something had happened to the disciples that was so wonderful that they couldn’t have kept it in even if they’d tried. They had to tell the world and the world had to see the love that God had shown them through Jesus’ death on the cross.
That’s also what God wants for us too. Jesus wants us all to be his disciples, to tell others about him and live the way he told us. You can’t see him but we know he’s near us, giving us strength and courage to talk to others about him. It doesn’t matter if we haven’t know him long or don’t understand everything he did.
To quote another song, this time by Larry Norman:
“When you know a pretty story
you don't let it go unsaid
you tell it to your children
as you tuck them into bed
and when you know a wonderful secret
you tell it to your friends
because a lifetime filled with happiness
is like a street that never ends
Sing that sweet sweet song of salvation
and let your laughter fill the air
sing that sweet sweet song of salvation
and tell the people everywhere
sing that sweet sweet song of salvation
to every man and every nation
sing that sweet sweet song of salvation
and let the people know that Jesus cares.”
When we truly know Jesus’ love and care for us then we are so joyful that the telling of others just overflows from our lives. The key is to know that love deeply, to allow Jesus’ love to flood over us and fill us with his joy and then the telling of what has happened to us comes as naturally as when we share the good news of our love for another person or the birth of our children or any other piece of good news that we simply can’t hold back and simply must share with others.
So let us pray that we will know more of Jesus’ love in our lives today:
Lord Jesus, fill us with an ever deepening awareness of the depth of you love for us. Help to truly appreciate in the very depths of our beings what it meant for you to give your life that we might live. May our lives overflow with your love that the world may see what you have done in us and for us. Amen.
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Larry Norman - Sweet Sweet Song of Salvation.
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