A couple of weeks ago, I had lunch with a dear friend who was recently given a diagnosis that suggests she only has 8 more months to live. A day or two later, I had coffee with a friend who is enduring a second round of cancer. That same day, I chatted with my buddy back in Memphis, Tennessee who is facing a liver transplant surgery next month. And a day later, my hair dresser announced that she has started her regiment of chemo.

Now, what if by some incredible turn of events, I came to know about a miraculous drug that instantly cures every form of disease. Let’s suppose that it was affordable, easy to manufacture and readily available for sale. But you need a special password for the website, a password that only I had.

Can you for a moment think that I would withhold that information? Of course not! Such good news would excite me. I would grab a phone and speed dial every one of those friends. I wouldn’t care if I woke them up, interfered with their work or bothered them while they were driving.

Such good news MUST be shared.

The Bible has a special term for such good news. It is the  Greek word is “euangelion.” And is best translated, GOOD NEWS. The gospel is God’s GOOD NEWS.

We are told that we must believe the GOOD NEWS (Mark 1:5). Paul tells us to “put up with anything rather than hinder the GOOD NEWS (I Cor. 9:12). And ultimately, that GOOD NEWS is to be proclaimed in all the earth (Matt. 24:14).

So  maybe this week we all ought to memorize the words of Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the GOSPEL (the GOOD NEWS), because it is the power of God that brings salvation, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile.”

It would be atrocious if you and I knew how to cure cancer or other diseases and withheld that information from our friends. It is even more reprehensible if we know Christ and do not share His GOOD NEWS with our family and friends.

Maybe it’s time to reach out. Who are you going to call?