BREAKING THE SILENCE, WITH GOOD NEWS! -- Devotional for November 24, from "Good Seeds"

Good news from a far country is like a drink of cold water to a thirsty man. (Proverbs 25:25)

There are many ways where the image of God is seen in man. One is the desire and ability to communicate. When God created man He gave him the wonderful gift of speech. Oh, He provided adequate language for the lower creatures, too, but nothing like the miracle of words with which He blessed mankind. Your baby’s first steps are a milestone, to be sure, but they don’t hold a candle to your joy at hearing “Dadda” or Mama” from those tiny, rosy lips for the very first time! Man craves to communicate, whether by Indian smoke signals drifting lazily across a valley, or a detailed message sent across town or across the sea, traveling invisibly at the speed of light, bouncing between earth and communication satellites, via the personal computer. Kids today hardly know how to write and send a letter through the postal service, but they’ll teach the older generation a thing or two about text messaging from their cell phone. And loved ones, or strangers soon to be friends, though halfway round the world, can now talk to one another (even see one another, if equipped with a webcam) via email or skype! We think this passion to communicate is unique to our day, but going back in history we see it’s nothing new. Think of the apostle Paul languishing in a Roman prison, isolated from loved ones, how it thrilled his soul when a letter finally came! And he was never beholden to his faraway friends, for they would always receive a letter from him in return. Now God was in those letters, for He caused them to become the Text Messages of Good News from the "far country" of heaven. A twenty-three year old Belgian man was in a car accident that left him totally paralyzed. Doctors told his parents it was futile to keep him alive, for he was no more than a vegetable. How fortunate that they refused to give up hope, for after twenty-three years in a supposed coma a newly developed brain scan technique discovered he was conscious, and had been internally alert the entire time! Such a “far country” he had been in. But now he communicates his thoughts through a touch screen device, and he plans to write a book about his ordeal. The apostle Paul could suggest a good title for that book: “Remember my imprisonment” (Colossians 4:18). But a worse silence than these is going on today between men and the God who is calling them. He calls them from the manger, from the cross – and from the skies! Remember what the angel proclaimed on that first Christmas Eve: “Today I bring you good news of great joy for all people (Luke 2:10). What isolated and imprisoned friend could you touch, refresh, and liberate today with this Good News from a Far Country?