Here is what we can sometimes miss. This invitation to rest in Christ does not belong just to the outset of the Christian journey; it belongs to whole of it as we sojourn in a dry and weary land that is this fallen world. 

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. (Psalm 42:2, NKJV)

Several years ago I published a booklet through DayOne Publications called God’s Good News. My goal was to lay out a God-initiated, Christ-centered, Spirit-imparted presentation of the gospel. The publisher did an amazing job designing the booklet to make it readable and inviting.

Allow me to share how I broached the subject.

O Lord, you awaken us to delight in your praise,
for you made us for yourself,
and our heart is restless,
until it rests in you.

That’s a quote from Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (A. D. 401) in his book, Confessions. He hits on something basic to being a human being. It involves a relationship with God and a restlessness without him.

That relationship is what the Bible talks about. It’s a subject that reaches to the very core of life.

This little booklet traces the broad strokes of the Bible’s message. It addresses the issue of the restlessness, discontentment, loneliness, out-of-whackness, ill-at-easeness, wondering-what-it’s-all-aboutness we all face in life.

Making a booklet readable is helpful in our visually-oriented day and age. It draws the reader in. But more important is drawing the reader into the message that speaks to the basic need of the soul, whetting their appetite for good news of great joy.

Augustine’s quote above provides an ideal stepping off point for discussion of the gospel. It begins by lifting the eye to God. It speaks to His design for us in creation for communion with Him but also hints at something that disrupted that design. It sets the stage for the story of redemption in God restoring that relationship and dealing with the root cause of the alienation, reconciling sinners to Himself through Jesus Christ.

Read More