Daily Devotions
(Jesus said) “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34
How do you measure good news?
Is it when Dick Clark and Ed McMahon show up at your door with a giant check from the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes? Is it when you get news you won the lottery even though you never bought a ticket? Does it happen when you find out your daughter is marrying into a wealthy family and they want to give you a new home?
There are all kinds of ways of measuring good news.
Dennis Gartman, publisher of The Gartman Letter, is talking about a new barometer. Certainly, as a financial advisor he follows the unemployment rate, new housing starts and the level of retail sales. But Gartman has added something new to his crystal ball predictions of the economy’s direction.
Plastic surgery.
Yup, you heard me right: plastic surgery. During the recession plastic surgery dropped like a stone. Nobody was willing to risk putting a tummy tuck on his or her American Express bill. But last year cosmetic surgeries rose five percent.
So there you have it. We’ve finally got some good news. Do I hear a “hallelujah”?
Now I don’t wish to quibble with Mr. Gartman, I am sure he is a very wise man. On the other hand, I think I’ll look elsewhere to find my good news.
You know where this is headed don’t you? If we want to see Good News … really legitimate and wonderful Good News, we need to go to a Bethlehem manger. There, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, we will find God’s Son, the world’s Savior.
Of course, there are other places you can see Good News. Go into the wilderness and see Jesus turn down the devil’s temptations. Go to Gethsemane and see Jesus take our sins to Himself. Stand underneath Calvary’s Cross. Although it is a terrible sight to see — that the Son of God would die to save us is grand Good News.
How do you measure good news? Go to Jesus’ empty tomb and listen to the angel. His announcement says that because Jesus lives, all who believe on Him as Savior will also live forever.
And the news doesn’t get any better than that.
THE PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father. This world brings us good news and bad news. Only You can give us that Good News which remains perpetually wonderful. May we always rejoice in the life, death and resurrection of Your Son who offered Himself so we might always have the best news. In His Name. Amen.