Good News

Good news.
Does your heart flutter when you hear these words, knowing that something uplifting is about to be told?
Do we ever really think about what these words mean? Do we live out these words so others will see that there is something different? Do we share it with others?
What is good news to us? Good news is hearing that a loved one arrived safely to their destination. Good news is when a surgery is completely successful. Good news is getting that job.

What about the best news? How about what Jesus did for us?

On Ash Wednesday, we reflect on the fact that we came from dust and to dust we shall return. This reminds us of our own death. We hear the sounds of nails being hammered into a wooden cross, our sins, written on slips of paper. We walk up the aisle to have our foreheads marked with the sign of the cross in ashes. The line moves swiftly and before I know it, I receive the ashes smudged onto my forehead and am filled with emotion, that I am truly loved by the Maker of the Universe, and that Jesus took my place on the cross because of that love. 

Surely it wasn't reasonable of the Lord of the Universe to come and walk this earth with us and love us enough to die for us and then show us everlasting life? We will all grow old, and sooner or later we will die, like the old trees in the orchard. But we have been promised that this is not the end. We have been promised life.  -Madeleine L'Engle

I sat back down feeling clean and forgiven. I felt that love more fully than ever, as I realized in my tiny life how big Jesus' love for me is. This is, indeed, the best news of all.