We love getting good news, no matter what’s going on in our lives. But the best time to get good news is when things aren’t going all that well; when we’re down in a valley rather than on a mountain top.

I don’t know where you’re at in your life just at the moment, but you can be absolutely certain that God does. And if perhaps you’re stuck in a place that, given a choice, you wouldn’t be in, then now would absolutely be a great time to receive some good news.

God knows that. That’s why to Israel, who’d been stuck as slaves in exile in Babylon for going onto three generations, God sent the Prophet Isaiah to tell them this:

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me. The LORD has chosen me to tell good news to the poor and to comfort those who are sad. He sent me to tell the captives and prisoners that they have been set free.

And fancy … around 700 years later at the very beginning of His public ministry, Jesus chose to read that particular Scripture down at the local synagogue, after which He said of Himself: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

In other words, He came to bring good news to the poor, to comfort those who are sad, to tell the captives that they’ve been set free. Friend, no matter where you are, how stuck you may feel, no matter what the world is shouting at you … Jesus came for you.

And I implore you today to grab hold of His promise with both hands and hang on tight. Jesus came to bring you this good news.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.