On this day in 1793, the American Minerva was published for the first time.

The American Minerva was the first daily newspaper in New York City. From there, newspapers were started all across the country.

Newspapers have become a regular part of daily life in America. Today’s papers include not only news, but also opinion columns, features, comics, and advertisements.

These days, most people also get news from TV, radio, and the Internet, all much more immediate than the papers. But before those outlets, newspaper vendors would stand at street corners and yell, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” to inform everyone that something important had happened.

When you have news, you want to get out the word. The Bible calls the message of Christ the good news. That’s because without Christ, just about everything else is bad news. The worst news of all is that all people are dead in their sins and have no hope for eternal life. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” And Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Did you get that? The first verse is the bad news, but the second gives hope.

No wonder the Bible calls it good news.

So here’s the question: What are we doing to get out the word? God doesn’t tell us to stand on a corner and shout, but we can use other ways to tell our friends and family about Christ. First, we should live out the good news. And then, when God gives us opportunities, we should tell people what Christ has done for us and what he can do for them.

And we can show them the Bible where they can “read all about it.”

Here begins the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God (Mark 1:1).

To Do

Take a few minutes and write a brief newspaper-style article on the good news of Jesus Christ. Make up a headline to go with your article.

Also on this day

This is Personal Passion Day.

1884—Levant M. Richardson received a patent for the ball-bearing roller skate. (Now we’re on a roll!)

1992—U.S. troops arrived in Somalia to oversee delivery of international food aid in Operation Restore Hope.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.