Maybe You Need a Gos-Pill
The other day, listening to the radio, I was reminded of something Pastor says, calling “the Gospel” the “Gos-pill,” saying that instead of all the other drugs we so willingly pop at the instruction of our doctors, maybe we should first pop a “Gos-pill.” Surprisingly enough, the name of the song I heard by Ryan Stevenson was ‘The Gospel, and he sings that the Gospel always makes a way when we’re lost in the mess we make. What caught my attention was the beginning of the chorus, “To the captive, it looks like freedom, to the orphan, it feels like home, to the skeptic, it might sound crazy, to believe in a God who loves.”
Most vitamins and medicines are most effective when taken daily on a regular schedule. We go to the doctor and trust his/her advice to take medicines, so we’re taking our health seriously. Our spiritual health is JUST as important but all too often, we forget to take our spiritual medicine, our daily dose of the gospel, on a consistent basis. If the gospel looks like freedom and feels like home, why can’t we be more disciplined to take it in every day?
So, I began to think…what does the gospel look like to me? To me it looks like forgiveness and feels like hope, it is promise and truth, a firm foundation on which I stand. The gospel is the written Word of God, a road map to salvation and an instruction manual to life. It is our weapon against blasphemy and our protection against evil. The more we study it, the more we take it in, the healthier we become and the stronger we’re able to stand in the face of adversity.
Not every sickness demands the care of a doctor; some require the simple act of opening the Good Book. Later in the song, singer Stevenson says to him, in his own life, the Gospel called him out of darkness and carried him to the cross. Most doctors will prescribe a strength of the medicine they want their patients to take; but is there ANY medicine that can call you out of darkness and lead you straight to Jesus? I don’t think so. That’s some pretty potent stuff! Doctors will always give you a dosage too…how much medicine per day, and when and how to take it. The nice thing about the gospel…or the Gos-pill…you can’t OD on it. You can’t take too much or take it too often. So, if you’re not sure what the gospel looks like to you, dust off your bible and visit the Great Physician, no appointment necessary.