“Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

I was asked recently about a new singer-songwriter and whether or not I had heard of him? I hadn’t but I did what almost all of us like to do when we hear about someone “new”; I searched him online and then went and listened to his music.  I liked it.  But, the point is that I would have not heard of him for some time, or maybe never, had not someone asked me if I had heard of “this new guy”.  We love the new and that is why we spend a lot of time introducing the “new” or the “new and improved”.  It doesn’t work every time, but the intrigue of seeing, finding, or knowing the new is pretty universal and something that we should pay attention to if things are feeling a little stale or tired.  A dose of “new” could be just what is needed right now.

In Luke we read of the account of the rich, young ruler who sought out Jesus. I can imagine that he heard about Jesus because someone told him, “Hey, have you heard of the new guy who is a teacher and has this group of guys with him going around preaching about a new way of thinking about God and beliefs?”.  I can also imagine the rich, young ruler, saying, “Where do you think I can meet this new guy?”  What is amazing, thousands of years later is that Jesus remains a “new guy”, each and everyday and we can tell others about Him with that same excitement and enthusiasm today as when He first came to the earth.  And, for each person who accepts and meets Him for the first time, everything becomes new.  So, if you are wondering today, in this New Year, about how to talk about Jesus, maybe you can start with, “Have you heard of this new guy?”

Reference: Luke 18:18 (New Living Translation)