1 ¶ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ~ Mark 1:1 (NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash
Well, it’s good to be back with you. Last week was a wonderful one as we welcomed my first granddaughter into the world: Eliza Bea Cash. Thursday, March 21st, was a long day for all of us. But it was exceptionally long for my daughter-in-law, Madeline. She was admitted into the hospital at 12:01am to start the birth process, and the grandparents finally got to hold the baby after 11 pm. Clearly, Madeline had put in a hard day’s work.
For over 24 hours, Madeline had been given nothing to eat or drink. (She did get a few ice chips, but that doesn’t pep you up much.) So, just as we were preparing to leave for the night, Susan got a text from Spencer. It said, “Madeline would like a Chic-fil-A Chicken Sandwich Meal, with Chic-fil-A Sauce.” We texted back that we would do our best.
It was 11:50 PM. Google told us Chic-fil-A closes at midnight. Susan (always up for a challenge) found a map to the nearest location and said, “We can do this.” I made a quick phone call and explained our situation to the manager. He wrote down our names. Then he said, “We close in 10 minutes. But come on down.”
The GPS said we would arrive at our destination with little time to spare. But we had a lot of faith in the goodness of the folks at Chick-fil-A. Our trip was cheerful, not frantic. Arriving at the stroke of midnight, we were greeted with smiles and laughter as well as a hot meal for Madeline. The restaurant refused to take our money. Instead, they cordially wished us, “Congratulations.” Susan said to me, “Well that’s really, really nice of them to do this. And I guess you’ve got your column for next week.”
As you can imagine, Susan and I have told this story dozens of times since it happened. It’s a story we love to tell, and people seem to like to hear it. And why not? With all the bad news in the world right now, it’s wonderful to hear something positive!
And it’s made me realize something important. Jesus sent us into the world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature. The word “Gospel” simply means “Good News.” Let’s brighten this dark world by spreading good news as often as we can. And, certainly, let’s tell the good news of Jesus; His love is the best news of all.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 33 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. He’s a retired Mississippi public schoolteacher with grown sons, and is now a stay-at-home-grandpa. He and his lovely wife, Susan, live in a brick house in town (where Landon celebrated his 2nd birthday this week.) You can send him a note at brotherjohn@ilovechurchcamp.com.
