2 Kings 7:9b – This is a day of good news. (NIV)

A major announcement on February 2, 2011 from one of the news networks heralded the launch of the so-called first daily newspaper for iPads. I first read the announcement on a news page from yahoo.com; sadly, that story no longer appears at the original URL. Yet a similar story is posted at www.engadget.com where we learn that for $0.99 a week or $39.99 a year, one can subscribe to the daily news delivered to an iPad near you.

The real story, however, is that we had the Good News Daily first — and our news is really "good" — gospel, even. It's also free, and one doesn't even have to own an iPad or an iPod to receive it, although we do have a version for such devices!

The Daily devotional marks this year sixteen years of consecutive service, linking authors who recognize and apply the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ in the ordinary circumstances of our everyday lives. This week we also mark the launch of a new website. Robin Ross, who in response to a call for devotional content for a first, new venture into cyberspace by an experimental ministry of The Presbyterian Church in Canada, began the Daily in 1996. From the beginning, the writing of short devotionals linked individuals around the world, and served to strengthen and encourage faith in and faithful following of Jesus. With the developing power and reach of the Internet, a subscription list was soon set up, and from a first handful of writers and readers, the Daily grew to several hundred e-mail subscribers. My modest involvement as Devotional Editor came about when Robin Ross found the work of sorting, editing, and scheduling devotional submissions to be too much for a pastor in full-time active service. We formed a team, and as the team grew, so did the reach of the ministry. Today, we have about 6,000 subscribers plus uncounted other readers who browse the website or receive "a word in season" passed along by another subscriber or reader who recognizes that a particular devotional might be a word of grace or a compelling illustration of God's truth to light the way for a specific individual in a particular time and circumstance.

Christians have often sought to shape our daily lives by a word from the Lord. With the advent of the printing press in 1456 A.D., it became possible for individuals to own copies of the Bible. With the advent of the Internet, we have the text of the Bible available at our fingertips, in a whole range of translations. Yet we are still called to "take up and read". The format of the Daily makes it easy for us to read a verse or two, and ponder alongside another living disciple of Jesus what that text has said, and how as the living Word of the living God it has spoken, and still speaks. In this we often hear the voice of the Lord saying to us, "This is the way; walk ye in it." (Isaiah 30:21c KJV)

Good news daily: that's what the Daily has been, and by God's grace, will continue to be.

Prayer: We give thanks, O God, for this day, and for good news daily. We thank You for the Daily, and all who have been a part of its life and service. May Your Word continue to seed the lives of believers and unbelievers alike, and by Your Holy Spirit, draw us into an ever closer, faithful walk with Jesus Christ, in Whose name we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

James T. Hurd <jthurd@sympatico.ca>
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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