How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (NIV)

Is there anyone who only ever delivers good news? A doctor sometimes walks in the room with good news, like the test was negative, but sometimes the test was positive, and it isn’t good news. There are times when realtors call with good news that you got the house, but then there are times when they say the deal fell through. Your lawyer might send a text with good news about your case, or it’s an email that your battle to keep custody of your children is only just beginning. Life is a pretty mixed bag of good and bad news, and at some point, we are all the messengers to someone in our life with the worst or the best news.

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But what if we only had good news to share with our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers? Wouldn’t it be amazing to only share something positively life-changing? I bet you see where this is going…  

To understand today’s verses, it helps to go back to yesterday in our devotional series on Romans and remember verse 13, which says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” This truth, that salvation is open to all who profess faith in Jesus, is then followed up with some questions about how one might come to be saved if there are no messengers to bring the good news of salvation. Preachers and teachers must be trained and sent out. There is praise for those who do this work with God: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”  

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This line is repeated here from the prophetic book of Isaiah. It is believed that this declaration looks forward to the messengers who would someday bring the news of deliverance for the Israelites from captivity. In the time of the prophet Isaiah, such news would be the most exciting and hopeful news, given their circumstances in Babylon. It would be life-changing for all who heard it. Do you view the gospel message as exciting and truly life-changing? Are you prepared to be called by God to be the messenger who brings the good news?

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Throughout the Bible, we see God speaking directly to people, but often he used ordinary people to participate in his redemptive work, like the prophet Isaiah, whose good news for the Israelites also foretold of the coming Messiah. The same is true today, because while God can directly reveal his Son to people in Muslim nations through dreams and visions without any other believers, our passage today seems to suggest that God’s plan for spreading the good news is his messengers. God doesn’t need us, but he chooses to use us.  

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In my earlier example, think of the joy the bearers of good news bring and experience and the on-going help they can provide once the news is shared. For instance, the realtor that helps a couple close on their first house, the lawyer who sees justice served for a vulnerable mother, or the doctor who gets to say, after a long battle, that the cancer is in remission. While the work of changed hearts is done by the Holy Spirit, God’s messengers can often aid in changing someone’s life for the better and walk alongside to disciple those who are new hearers of the good news.

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So today, let’s reflect on this: who brought you the good news about Jesus? How can you be intentional about sharing the gospel this week so that others might hear, believe, and call on the name of the Lord and be saved?

All gracious and loving God, we praise you today that you made a way for us to be reconciled to you through Christ. We thank you for the good news of the gospel that is for everyone, and that you include us in your plan to bring the message of salvation to the nations. By your Spirit, send us out to tell one more today about who you are and what Christ has done on our behalf. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.