A gossip goes around telling secrets, but those who are trustworthy can keep a confidence.

Proverbs 11:13

Your Encouragement

I thought COVID-19 has restricted movement enough to free me from one terrible enemy—the gossiper.

Remember that friend who always came around with the Breaking News? He came with that peculiar smile that signaled a bombshell on his lips. I thought it was a one-way street, so I enjoyed the drive with little care of impending danger. How wrong I was! And I often wondered how my well-kept secrets got into the public space. So, I breathed a sigh of relief when COVID-19 came with all its restrictions. Naively, I forgot one thing—the other gossiper on the block.

They call it social media, with its leader, called WhatsApp!

It is the insidious enemy in my life now—a platform that divulges information in milliseconds. If ever there was an opportunity to binge on its slick instrument in my hand, it is now. Any wonder it has become the first thing I reach for in the morning? Everything in my life is in that pricy phone in my hand.

Can you imagine the number of forwards I have received and sent out since I woke up this morning on the platform of my new friend? It’s unbelievable!

Now I know that my worst enemy is not the friend who came around my office or home. It is the overpriced mobile device in my hand—my constant companion. But how can I get rid of my new ‘friend’ now that I need ‘him’ for work every day—now that virtual work has become the order of the day?

But thank God for another side of the new deal.

There is the birth of the Savior to proclaim the loudest (Lk. 2:10-12). It is the ‘Breaking News’ of every minute of each new day. How much hotter could any news be than “The Virgin Is with Child?” Think about it. How many ears can you engage with this life-saving news? Though a piece of a small-town news item, it has confounded the entire world for over two thousand years. And it is still trending as the number one news to celebrate.

So, here is the deal. You have become the best social media practitioner on the block. Use those skills to communicate the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. The angels started it and handed the baton to the shepherds. Millions of the Savior’s ‘Faithfuls’ have run their course and passed it on. It is now your turn to bring victory to “Team Immanuel.”

Don’t disappoint, my friend. Maintain the integrity of the team for the crown above. Be the trustworthy “gossiper” you have always been, and may the grace and peace of God be with you. Amen!