Christian Perspectives: good news is for sharing

May 7, 2014 · 0 Comments

In 2001 I had the incredible privilege to become a bone marrow donor to a young woman in a different province. She had an incurable kind of blood cancer and her only hope left was a bone marrow transplant. At the time I was a regular blood donor and some years before during my regular blood donation I was asked to sign up for the bone marrow registry: chances 1 in almost 400,000 to ever be a match. So I signed up and promptly forgot about it. About 4 years later I got a call that I was a possible match. In a process that took several months I was finally selected to be a donor.

After waiting just over a year (they make you wait since the transplant has a 50/50 chance of success) I was able to start corresponding with my recipient. Over the next 2–3 years she slowly got better and began to resume a normal life.

On the 10th anniversary of her transplant, I was able to fly out and attend the celebration, meet her family, friends and some of the medical staff that had cared for her. I also was introduced to her brand new fiancée. A year and a half later she was married. She felt I had to be there and as an act of gratitude she flew my wife and I to her home town out west. She put us up in a hotel; made sure we were driven around and were fed. There was nothing she would not do for us. She was convinced that her wedding day never would have happened without my donation. Any where we went together I was introduced as her donor and the guy that saved her life. Her gratitude was shown not only in acknowledgement what was done for her, but also in real action.

Just this past Easter we celebrated that Jesus gave us new life through His sacrifice, death and resurrection. Perhaps it is necessary to stop and remind yourself what God, through Jesus Christ has done for you….?

There is a great story in the bible in the book of 2nd Kings Ch.6 vs24 till 7 vs 11. The story deals with the siege of a large city by an army. Caught in the no-man’s land between the army and the city walls are 4 lepers. The lepers are trying to decide what to do. They are not welcome in the city, besides the city is slowly being starved to death. There is nothing to hope for in that place except a slow drawn out death through starvation. The soldiers laying siege to the city are the arch enemies of the city people, including the lepers. The soldiers have a reputation to be harsh and cruel. There is not a chance they will allow these lepers to walk away; they will certainly be killed. The lepers decide to take their chances with their enemies on the slim chance they will be shown pity, if nothing else they will be killed quickly rather than slowly starving to death. When they come to the camp of the enemy they find it empty! Amazingly through a miracle the soldiers have fled leaving everything behind. The first thing the lepers do is feast on the food left behind. Then they ransack the place hiding some of the valuables. They are now well fed and rich. The 4 lepers are the first people in this story that find out that God’s Grace has been at work and has set His people free, has delivered them from the enemy. They celebrate in that freedom by eating and drinking and getting a new lease on life. (Eph.2:4) After a while though, their conscience begins to bother them: here they are, well fed surrounded by food and luxury while their fellow citizens are dying. They are realizing they are being selfish. “This is not right” they say. “This is day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves” We need to tell others, we need to spread the good news. The lepers recognize that this simply is not something they can keep quiet about. They recognize the fact that God had been at work. How else could one explain this miracle? Not to share this, to stay silent would be a sin against God. Secondly, not to share the abundance with a starving people would just be inconsiderate, cruel and “inhumane”. So the lepers hurry to the walls of the city and report what they have found: that is “Good News” of what God has accomplished: Freedom, a chance for new life; that too is the story of Easter. Has Jesus set you free? Are you enjoying a second chance at life thru Christ? How are you going to respond? Ultimately it is about how each us of will respond personally to God’s incredible gift of Grace.

Are you so filled with gratitude that it overflows the boundaries of your heart and spilling over into words: acknowledging what God Thru Jesus has done; and actions: sharing the message of hope and salvation. How can we keep silent about God’s incredible Grace? Let’s share the Good News of Jesus Christ so that all my truly live! John Oorebeek Highlands Youth For Christ