God Speaking

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”

(2 Corinthians 3: 3)

Letter writing unfortunately, in my mind, is fast becoming a thing of the past and I was reminded of this in a very nostalgic way a few weeks ago by a parcel that arrived in the mail from my sister in Australia. She had sold her house and was moving so she had spent many hours clearing out closets. During one such sorting through old papers, she came across a letter I had written to her nearly 50 years ago and decided to send it back to me. My husband and I and our three little girls had moved to an island in the Central Pacific for my husband to become the Dentist for the islanders and the Australian and English workers who filled many roles for the Australian Government and my letter was describing in great, detail that incredible adventure.  As I read my own words, written so many years ago, my heart gave a little leap as memories came flooding back.

Paul communicated to those early believers through his letters and used this beautiful illustration to describe how when we take the Lord into our hearts all believers can become a letter from Christ to the world.

Before we can fill that role, we need to have the Lord’s words firmly placed in our hearts so others will be able to notice them. The Psalmists were very aware of this;

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119: 11)

Again, the Psalmist prays for the Lord to give him discernment in reading Scripture so he faithfully can represent him;

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in you law.” (Psalm 119: 18)

When we try to live God’s word we will become those living letters of Christ to the world that Paul so aptly describes.

Because of today’s technology, hand written letters have almost disappeared having been superseded by e-mail, texting, twittering etc. The sad thing about these sterile printed words is they are unable to portray the character of the person sending them. Handwriting always carries with it the flavor of the writer. I have kept some of my father’s letters and when I see that spidery writing his image immediately pops into my mind. Paul even impresses this on his readers when he writes to them;

“I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.” (2 Thessalonians 3: 17)

If we want to be those living letters for Christ we need to be genuine. We certainly remain ourselves but, the all, important words written on our hearts will leave behind the flavor of Christ.