Jump Start # 1315

Proverbs 15:30 “Bright eyes gladden the heart; good news puts fat on the bones.”

I expect most of us have never heard a sermon on this verse. I admit that I never have. I was reading through this chapter the other day and just stopped at this verse. It made me smile just thinking about it. What a pleasant thought. How refreshing this is. It’s good from time to time to just enjoy good things. There are so many.

This passage presents two different thoughts to our hearts and minds.

First, is the presence of one another. Two friends meet who haven’t seen each other in a while. The grandkids come to visit grandma and grandpa. There is an excitement, a joy, a “I’m glad that I’m here,” moment. The eyes connect and those bright, cheery eyes makes the other person feel welcome, loved and wanted. There is just a goodness about that thought. It reminds us of happier days and good times we had with others.

Second, is the message from another. One is telling the other good news. The good news of one makes the other happy. How we need this today. There is so much negative and bad news, even among God’s people. We hear of fussing churches. We hear of folks throwing in the towel. We hear of churches firing preachers. The nightly news is mostly bad. Shootings. Death. Terrorism. Destruction. Arrests. Most news casts try to find something light, humorous or what is called a human interest story to broadcast. I expect if they didn’t, folks would get so turned off of the bad news that they would quit watching all together. Good news. We like hearing the successes of others. Rejoice with those who rejoice is what the Romans were told. We know all too well the weep with those who weep part, but we don’t do much of the rejoicing with others. We need too. We need to look around at what is good these days. When we do it causes us to lift our heads a bit higher. Things are not as bad as we thought. It causes us to be thankful. The Lord sure has blessed us. It makes us realize that some of our statements are nothing more than repeated expressions from the dooms-day crowd. Not all young people are going to the dogs. Come see our Sunday worship. You’ll find our front rows stuffed full of teenagers. They’re an awesome group. You’ll hear that churches aren’t growing these days. That’s just not so. There are a bunch that are having to add on to the building because there are no places to seat everyone. And some will reply, “Well, all that growth came from folks switching from one congregation to another.” Again, simply not so. I know of places that are baptizing folks every week. Well, the dooms day crowd says, no one is interested in the Bible these days. Do you know that  there has been over 1 million downloads to a well known Bible app for phones and tablets? Someone, a bunch of someones, are wanting the Bible on their phones and tablets.

Good news just puts fat on our bones. What a wonderful expression that is. Have you ever noticed that gossip is generally bad news, negative stuff and mean talk. Wouldn’t it be great if folks spread good news more than they did the bad news?

What is also interesting about this expression is that the story of Jesus, contained in the Gospels, a word which means good news. There isn’t any better news than the good news of God. Some try to present the good news in a bad news fashion, but it doesn’t work that way. God loves us. God thinks about us. God wants us. That’s good news. That’s the best news.

So, for today, try to be the “bright eyes” for someone and try to tell others good news. Some folks haven’t heard anything good in a long time. A little good news at work might lift the spirits of the whole place. A bit of good news around the house might get everyone in a better mood and find out that they want to hang out with each other. Good news in the church house may be the very thing that gets folks to coming back again. So, give it a try. Don’t use your good news to be a bragging session about how great you are. That can turn sour on you quickly. When someone else has some good news, rejoice with them. Don’t try to trump their good times with your good times. Rejoice. Smile. Hug. High five. Fist bump. French fry hand shake. That’s a weird one I do with the teenagers. It’s too hard to explain but we like it.

Bright eyes and good news. I rather think Jesus had that when He told the parable of the talents. When the two and five talent servants heard, “Well done, good and faithful…” I expect there were some bright eyes and good news coming from the Master. Can you see Jesus, with His arms opened, a big smile on His face, saying your name? Come on up here. I kind of think death will be that way for us believers, falling into the arms of Jesus.

Bright eyes and good news. I think I’ll have to preach that some day. But first, I must get about living that way more. How about you?

Roger