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 om tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

(2 Corinthians 3: 3)

I was sorting through an old box of mine that I have kept all sorts of memorable items over the years. I came upon a very old letter, the pages turning yellow and felt a stirring in my heart as I looked at the spidery writing, immediately recognizing it was from my father who had died many years ago. As I sat down to read it memories came flooding back as I remembered his voice, his many sayings that were still imprinted upon my mind, his laughter, his love, so when I was reading Paul’s advice to the Corinthians, I thought how powerful his advice was. We can become letters from Christ in our everyday life, by exhibiting his love to others shining a light in the darkness and by our actions reflecting God’s word. 

In Paul’s day letters were not delivered into the mailbox by the postman, but were brought by messengers, sometimes the news might be sad or terrifying, but when a messenger arrived with the good news there was much rejoicing. 

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”” (Isaiah 52: 7)

Paul is encouraging us to be like those early messengers, bringing good news to others by demonstrating Christ’s love, the good news of his saving grace. What an incredible privilege to be one of those messengers. Those early messengers knew the great responsibility they had to make sure they delivered the news they had been entrusted with and endured all sorts of dangers to do so. 

We may feel reluctant to handle the responsibility of being a Letter from Christ, but Paul reminds his readers and of course us as well it is not our strength that achieves this, but the power of the Holy Spirit, listening to him is our part in spreading the good news. 

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” (2 Corinthians 3: 5)

The best way to listen to the Holy Spirit is to stay in touch with him through prayer and God’s word. When we do this on a regular basis, the Lord’s message becomes imprinted on our hearts. When anger rises in us in some altercation, a still small voice seems to remind us not to retort, to stay calm and not raise our voices in anger. 

I love what one of Psalmists said about how to do this.  

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