Thought of the Day !!

"The time promised by God has come at last!" (Jesus) announced.  "The Kingdom of God is near!  Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!"
                                                 Mark 1:15 (NLT)

This is the beginning of Jesus' ministry as recorded in Mark's Gospel.  In it Jesus gives us a mini to-do list.  There are two things he tells us to do.  We are to first of all repent.  Repentance basically means to change or turn away or go in a different direction.  God knows how humanity has all been affected by sin and how we are motivated by selfish desires.  Jesus is telling us to turn from our selfish motives, which would mean turning to the motives of God that we were created for.

Secondly, Jesus tells us to believe the Good News, or the Gospel.  The Gospel is like a net under a person walking on a high wire.  Any ordinary person like myself who would attempt to walk on a wire far above the ground would quickly fall.  And the ground wouldn't be a soft landing at all.  It's the net that would save the falling person from sure death.  Believing in the Good News of Christ Jesus (or believing in the Gospel) means having that net to save us from our sins. 

Take time today to ask yourself what you need to repent of.  Then meditate on what it means for you to believe.

In the love of Christ,
greg