God’s Snail Mail

Not long ago my wife sent a thank you note to our young pastor to encourage him during this time when our church doors are closed due to the Corona virus.  He quickly wrote back saying how he appreciated the time she had taken to send him good old fashioned snail mail. His comment got me to thinking about the value of letters. Some of my most treasured possessions are letters from my dad. One of my favorites is a Mother’s day letter that he wrote from Europe during WW2. Since my grandmother was from Italy, dad felt that writing in Italian would give her a special blessing as she worried and prayed for him back in the states.

Then I remembered  that God was the author of the first snail mail. That was when He came down on Mount Sinai and wrote with His finger on some stone tablets. In order to deliver them Moses had to lug them all the way down the mountain. Now some snails might have traveled almost as fast! But you might say – today God is more up to date. He isn’t using stone tablets anymore, He is writing on hearts. Well yes that is true but then ask yourself a question: “Which has lasted longer; those tablets or the hearts that He wrote on?”

When God wanted to show Himself to the world He choose to send a special delivery letter – The Word of God made flesh in the person of Jesus. Today He wants to write the love of Jesus on our own hearts for others to read. Though it might take a lifetime God is not in a hurry. He is looking for people patient enough to sit still long enough for Him to finish. Are you ready to become a part of His snail mail today? God is ready to start writing!

The Power of the Gospel

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16 ESV 

We often look at the telling of the story of Jesus’ life as if it were simply recounting one adventure after another. But when we look a bit deeper we discover that most of the Gospel is actually about the word of God revealed either through the teaching or ministry of Jesus.

John reminds us of this at the beginning of His account;  -In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and The Word was God.   John 1:1

For example think of how the parable of the sower teaches us to be careful how we listen to God’s word. Jesus tells us that its transforming power only works when if enters our hearts in a way that changes our behavior and attitudes. Then directly afterward Jesus heads off in a boat with his disciples and He falls asleep after a long day. But as they begin to sail away into the sunset a terrible storm comes up and in desperation His disciples shake him awake crying out in fear. Then Jesus gets up and commands the wind and waves and – what do they do? – They immediately obey His word.

grayscale photo of body of waves

Photo by Matt Hardy on Pexels.com

Today it is no different. God’s power in our lives occurs not by our reading, listening to or even watching films about the Bible. It only takes root when it comes in power; so that our believing and receiving forms a living connection with Him. When we get truly connected to Him then proclaiming His word to others will become more and more a natural outflow. Maybe one part of God’s purpose in this moment when we are shut in has been to give us opportunity to connect in a deeper way with the true Gospel. If we will treasure this time, then both in the middle of the storm and when it is over; His Gospel will work in power both in our hearts and around us on little patch of earth.