Not too long ago, I re-read the Book of John. All of the Gospels have a different focus: Matthew is the Gospel written to the Jews; Luke is written for Gentiles, Mark is the scaled-down "express" Gospel probably written to the Romans, while John is the Gospel with more personal stories, some of which are not found in any of the other Gospel accounts. John's telling of the Good News begins with an account of the coming, not of Jesus, but of Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. One brief sentence in the first paragraph suddenly struck me, so let's listen to it!

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (John 1:6)

John the Baptist came into the world with the task of announcing the coming of the Messiah, Jesus. He was sent from God to a world, like the world we live in today, in desperate need of a Savior. As I read this recently, it occurred to me that this sentence describes every follower of Jesus. It could read like this: There was a man sent from God, whose name was…just fill-in your first name and complete the sentence. When God created you and me, He created us with purpose. Before He ever formed us in our mother's wombs, He planned to save you and me and send us into a world in desperate need of a Savior. Today, consider this: you’ve been sent into the world to tell people about Jesus, just like John the Baptist. You and I were born with a mission...and that is very Good News!