What Tidings Do You Bring?
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. (Lk 4:14-22)
Jesus’ job was not easy. He never claimed it was. Because of that, He never claimed that following Him would be easy.
You would think that bringing “glad tidings” to others would be a piece of cake. After all, who wouldn’t want to hear that God loved them? Who wouldn’t want to know that God has gifts in store for them?
That is the easy side of the message.
However, God’s love for us prompts us to love others. The gifts that God has in store for us are meant to be given to others. While everything is ours if we trust in the Lord, nothing is ours because it is for the benefit of everyone.
That is a message that some do not like to hear.
God is calling you to look at all that you have been given. As you identify your many gifts, God is asking you how you are going to use those gifts for the good of others.
Well, how are you?
FAITH ACTION: Bring “glad tidings” to someone this day.