FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “All the News That’s Fit to Share”

Supplies: Bible; newspaper, news website, or news app

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Do you like to watch the news?  I certainly didn’t when I was a kid.  I thought the news was boring and almost impossible to understand.  Now that I’m older, I enjoy watching and reading the news much more, because I like knowing what’s going on in the world.  Even so, there are times I wonder why news reporters pick the stories they do.  For example, I just did a quick scan through a top news website, and here are the stories: a court case from a bombing; a plane crash; government workers who broke the law; trouble in the Middle East; an explosion; and a bridge collapse.  Ugh!  Now, I’m not saying these stories aren’t noteworthy.  If that’s what’s happening, I’m sure some people want to know.  But there’s absolutely NO happy news!  There’s no joyful, positive, feel-good kind of stories that reporters feel is worth sharing.  I repeat—ugh!

What kind of stories would you like to hear?  What do you think would be the most interesting, worthwhile headline?  What kind of TV news show would you be most likely to watch?  Think about it for a minute, then share with your family.

READ

Now grab a Bible and read Matthew 28.

THINK

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a more stirring, interesting, attention-grabbing headline than “JESUS LIVES!”  I mean, even if I had no idea who this son of a carpenter was, I’d want to read that story.  I would turn up the volume when it came on TV.  I would want to know what that was all about.  Seriously!  Betrayed by a close friend, arrested, tortured, executed, buried…then three days later He’s back???  Find me any ten news stories today that are even half that fascinating!  And it only gets more engaging the more you know.

This man was innocent—not just of the crimes of which He was accused, He was innocent of all crimes…of all sin!  This guy never once did anything apart from the highest moral standard.  In fact, He spent most of His time helping, healing, and basically giving to others.  Even His death was an act of service to His fellow man.  As it turns out, this man’s wrongful execution serves as payment for all sin ever committed—past, present or future.  He didn’t die because He had a rotten lawyer or because the jury was rigged.  He chose to die for YOU, person and/or family reading this blog, dying in your place so that one day, you could know God.

And then three days later He came back to life!!!  He’s not still dead—this guy’s ALIVE AGAIN!  That unprecedented (and unmatched) miracle means that every person has the chance to be alive again, too.  Each and every human being, from Mother Teresa to Charles Manson, and everyone in between has the opportunity to accept this Jesus as their Lord and Savior, to be forgiven of their sins, and to experience eternal life.  Hoo-ah, now that’s some news worth sharing!

APPLY

That’s one of the things I love about this passage in Matthew.  It begins with truly the greatest story ever, and ends with a charge to share that story.  Now let’s be real, if this happened tomorrow in Random Town, Kansas, we’d ALL hear about it.  It would top the trending charts, clog up your news feed, and set a new record for reTweeted post.  It’d be every headline on every paper, and the top story on every station.  It’d be NEWS!

So why isn’t it still?  What’s keeping us from sharing this amazing, fascinating, attention-grabbing, life-transforming story with others?  Granted, you may not want to run out to the street, stop the first car that drives past, and start telling them about Jesus.  But I bet there’s at least one person you know, someone you have a relationship with, who would be interested to hear this bit of news.  You can share it yourself, or you can always invite them to Easter service.  Let’s agree that we won’t let the greatest story ever end up in the trash.  Talk about how you as a family can work together to share Jesus with the people you’re close to.  Who can you each invite to Easter this week?  Now let’s pray.

PRAY

You did it, Jesus.  You did the impossible, the incredible, the incomprehensible. Some would say You even did the insane.  But You did it, and You did it for us.  Thank You!  Guide us, God, to know who you’ve placed around us that’s ready to hear this amazing story.  In Your Name we pray, Jesus.  Amen

REPLY

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