We get a lot of phone calls on our answering machine at home from credit companies looking for someone who used to have our phone number.  The messages are often from machines, which makes it easier to ignore them.  In this world of instant and mass communication a phone call from a real person can make a difference in how we receive a message.

In Jesus’ world messages were always delivered by a real person and they were oral messages because most people in that part of the world did not read.  To send a message you needed a messenger – someone who would stand in for the person sending the message.  When a messenger arrived the people receiving the message greeted and treated the messenger the way they would the sender.

Our world is filled with people who want us to hear their message: advertisers, charities, health care providers, schools.  We also have a message to share – a message of hope about this world.  Take a few minutes this week to tell one person what God has been doing in your life and see how they receive the message.