REVELATION 14:6

Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.

TO PONDER

Angels, they are an interesting element of scripture. Certainly the Old Testament tells of Cherubim and Seraphim, different kinds of heavenly supernatural beings, but interestingly both the Hebrew word for angel (malach or malachim in the plural) and the Greek word angelos from which we get the word 'angel' mean to be sent or to carry a message.

Think now about Jesus last instruction to his disciples. Firstly is the command to 'go'. Jesus sends us out, we are sent ones, we are in the Hebrew, malachim. And what does Jesus send us out to do? We are sent with a message, we are send to bear witness to Christ with our words and actions and to teach people the things that Jesus imparted to his disciples and which have been passed onto us. We are sent messengers - if you take a literal translation, Jesus is asking us to be his angels to all the world. And just like the angel in John's vision in the book of Revelation, we have been given the eternal gospel to proclaim as our message.

We, the called and redeemed people of God are his called and sent messengers. We may not be angels in the classical sense of being winged, spiritual beings with supernatural abilities, however, our job description is the same - go and proclaim the message, go and tell the good news. What a wonderful thought that you may be the angel that God sends with his message of love and grace as an answer to someone's prayer!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, sometimes carrying the gospel in this world is hard. In a world full of darkness, being a bearer of the light draws all sorts of attention - you know this better than I do. Please help and empower me to faithfully serve as your messenger to all the world. Help me not to hide the light of the gospel, but to display it boldly and confidently so that others may be called out of the darkness and into your marvellous light. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle