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One
of the hard aspects of pastoring is that sometimes you have to deliver bad
news. On several occasions I have been called on to tell family a loved
one has been in an accident and severely injured or killed. At times God
has used me to try and bring divided people together, and my news is that
efforts have failed.
Sometimes my bad news message comes from God. The Bible
says "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans
3:23) and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a). That’s
bad news if you expect to try to make it to heaven on your own merit.
In Daniel 5, Daniel had bad news for Belshazzar. In a
short sermon just before telling the king of his soon downfall, Daniel reminds
him that he has not listened to God. Even though Belshazzar had the witness
of what had happened to his forefather, Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel says, "Yet
you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew
this." (Daniel
5:22)
It is important to remember that without the Bad News
of the, cost of sin, there isn't a lot of impact to the Good News that "the
free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"
(Romans
6:23b). The love of God is saving you from
the eternal punishment you deserve. Thank Him for that marvelous grace and
boundless love today. And don't forget to share the Bad News too.
All Scripture references are from the New American
Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
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~ The
Bad News
