In yesterday’s devotional we showed that our repentance creates a space for the Spirit to come and dwell in us, and through this, we have access to the Holy Spirit as Jesus had, which gives us the anointing to do good work. In today’s devotional, Day 2, we will see that one of the actions the Spirit anoints us to do is to preach the good news to the poor. 

There are three key questions involved in this action:

1. What does it mean to preach?
2. What is the message of the good news to be preached? 
3. Who are the poor we are to preach to? 

The word to preach in Greek is Euaggelizo, which means to bring good news or to bring glad tidings. From this Greek word we have the English word evangelize. Another way of understanding the word Euaggelizo is to look at the two root words Eu and Aggelizo, which together mean: a messenger who does well. This is precisely what it means to preach: to deliver the message (of the Gospel) of Jesus to others. 

Looking now to the second question, the term “Gospel” is often used in reference to the good news. The Gospel message can be defined by a broad and a narrow spectrum: the former involving everything from the account of creation in Genesis 1, to God’s final judgement in Revelations 20 and the eternal plan God has for each and every one of us who believes in Jesus (Revelation 21-22); the latter giving an account of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on this earth. Regardless of the spectrum we choose to speak of the Gospel, the main point of it never changes: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). This is the good news; this is the Gospel. Though mankind sinned (Genesis 3), severing their relationship with God, He already had a plan in mind to redeem mankind through His Son Jesus. Because of Christ, we now have access to Heaven and can have a relationship with the Lord once more. This hope-filled message is what we now get to take with us to the poor.

In Matthew 5:3, Jesus begins the beatitudes by saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. The word poor in Greek is ptochos, which means destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour or (put simply): a beggar. Jesus Himself preached the Gospel to people who were poor  (Matthew 11:3, Luke 7:22), not merely in the aspect of money, but also to people who had lowly perspectives of themselves irrespective of their social status. Barnes’s Notes on the Bible (Commentary) describes the poor as: all those who are destitute of the comforts of this life, and who therefore may be more readily disposed to seek treasures in heaven; all those who are sensible of their sins, or are poor in spirit (as in Mat. 5:3). The poor, therefore, are a distinction to those who believe to have an abundance, both in their material goods, but also who do not have an awareness of their need for Christ. These are the people we are called to preach to: to all those who are not yet aware of, or who would like to know more about their need for Christ. 

Living with an awareness of the Holy Spirit, He can give us the boldness to share the Gospel, just as He emboldened the disciples in the New Testament (Acts 4:31). Be encouraged, therefore, if you are hesitant about bringing the good news to those around you – the Holy Spirit is with you, and He will give you the courage to speak!

Let us pray:

Father, thank you for the good news of the Gospel. Thank you for sending your one and only Son, Jesus, to save us. We pray that you would embolden us to share the good news with those around us, and that you would highlight people in our daily lives who need to hear more about you. Thank you for the Holy Spirit, who dwells inside of us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reflections:

• Can you share about your faith in just a few sentences? Practice this and see how God can use it for His glory. 
• Who can you share the gospel with today? Pray for those around you and ask the Spirit to give you boldness to share!