Good News

by Kay Heitsch

Years ago, I bought a cheap paperback Good News Bible. I needed some good news. I bought a highlighter at the same time.

The first thing I did was to write a Bible verse on the front page. I had no idea why I chose this verse at the time. Here's the verse, "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end." Hebrew 12:2 TEV

The next thing I did was to hold the Bible to my face and pray. I asked the LORD to teach me what I needed to know. I did this every time before I opened the bible.

Amazingly I would open the bible to the same verse each time. This verse said, "What is truth?" I highlighted it! I remember saying under my breath, "Yup, this is what I need to know."

I didn't realize it at the time, but I was starting on a journey. I was learning so many things that were helping me in my daily life. I was also unlearning things I had been taught. I was so intrigued by what I was finding I wrote in the Bible, "If God meant for us to live life on our own, He wouldn't have given us this instruction book."

I began to put what I was reading into practice. I started to use the following verse when I needed confidence. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13 Somehow, I knew it wasn't my strength, but it was through Christ that I was able to step out with confidence.

I was beginning to see why I was highlighting "in Him" and "through Him." Living an abundant life wasn't about me. It was about letting Christ live through me.

I remember well the night I highlighted this verse, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8 & 9.

As I look back on the verses I highlighted at the beginning of my journey, I now understand why. It is "in Him" and "through Him" that we live a life of eternal value. It's not about us and our works that we earn eternal life. It is a free gift of God.

The verse, "Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. Hebrew 12:2 TEV was precisely what I would need to do to grow in my faith.

One night I came upon this verse, "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 I was looking for the truth, and the truth in this book has set me free. Now that's good news!