Week 1: Day 3

Intro: Hello and welcome to Orbit, a short reflection to help you put God at the centre of your life from the team behind Satellites - I'm Martin Saunders. Every weekday we give you a little bit of the Bible to chew on, and a simple idea to help you put it into practice in your life - today.

Bible: Today's reading is again from Mark chapter 1, and it's a short one, just two verses - 14 & 15:

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Thoughts: What's the best news you've ever heard? Maybe you found out you'd won something, or that someone who was lost had been found safely. For me, it was the moment 17 years ago, when my wife emerged from the bathroom, clutching a plastic test strip and saying those two immortal words: "I'm pregnant!"

Yet even the news of a new life coming into the world isn't the best news of all. That title is reserved for the news that Jesus is sharing in these short verses from Mark's gospel. "The time has come," he says. "The Kingdom of God has come near."

Now of course, that might not sound like the best news of all time, but I promise you that it is. Because what Jesus is saying is that not only is there a God, but he knows who we are - and he cares about us so much, he's decided to draw near to us. Before Jesus came, God kept his distance from people, because the evil things that they did drove him away. But Jesus arrived to close up the gap - to make it possible for us to know God, and for our mistakes somehow not to matter. And all we need to do is say sorry for our part in the brokenness of the world, and just throw ourselves into following him.

There are a million pieces of news and information that can distract us from the best and most important thing that we could know - that God is real, loves us, and wants to be a central part of our lives. So every day, try to remind yourself of the single most important truth in the universe: that Jesus is with you.

Not only that - Jesus tells us not to keep this good news to ourselves. Like any really good news, you want and need to share it. When my wife told me she was pregnant, I called everyone I knew to celebrate. It's the same with the good news about Jesus. We just have to share it!

Pray: Lord God, I thank you that you're real - that you love me - and that you want to know me personally. That's amazing news. Please help me to share your love with the people around me; give me courage and the words to say. Amen

Silence: There's now just a few moments of silence for you to pray, reflect on these ideas, or simply sit and be still.

Action: Every day on Orbit we give you a simple practical challenge to help you put this passage into action in your life. Here's today's:

One of the key things that Jesus asks us to do is share our faith with others. That might sound scary, so today, here's a really simple version of that to try. Just start one conversation, with one friend who doesn't know God, about Jesus. Ask them what they think about him; tell them just a little bit about why you believe. You don't need to be pushy or weird - friends actually like to hear about what their friends care about. And also - know that as you speak, the Holy Spirit will also be whispering to them: "I'm real! I love you!"

Outro: That's it for today's Orbit. Thanks so much for joining us - we'll be back with another reflection tomorrow.