Written For Me

Today marks my 58th time around the sun.
My age is simply a number.
There is no denying that my birth year sounds further and further away.
However, inside me the little girl, the teenage girl, and the young adult is still there.

As a little girl, it was fun to go down the shore on the day of my birthday.
It was fun to go out for dinner to a favorite restaurant.
As I got older, a summer birthday was never that special when I was in school.
There was no celebration at school on the actual day.

No cupcakes could be brought into elementary school to share with the class.
No locker could be decorated in high school since my birthday was not during the school year.
No matter the season, the favorite part of my birthday was getting cards in the mail.
I loved lining them up on the dining room table; I still do.

I could always guess the sender by the handwriting.
I loved seeing the colorful envelopes in the mailbox.
I loved reading the little notes that were inside each card.
I saved my cards in a special place until my next birthday; I still do.

People call it snail mail.
Email is indeed quicker but instantaneous does not necessarily mean better.
The whole process of choosing, writing, addressing, and stamping a card takes time.
I think that is why cards are so special to me.

Someone has to put thought behind the card they send.
Someone has to choose just the right one.
If only there was a camera to capture the recipient’s face while reading the card.
If only the sender knew how much their card meant.

I am preparing to teach Bible study again in the fall.
The summer is when I read books and commentaries that help me prepare for teaching.
I am almost finished a book by R.C. Sproul.
A story Dr. Sproul shared made me think.

Not many years ago, a woman wrote a novel about a new convert to Christianity. This new convert wanted to feel the full weight of the teaching of sacred Scripture, particularly in the New Testament, so he had his secretary type out the epistles of the New Testament verbatim, one at a time, and then had them sent through the mail to himself, as if he were the one addressed in each epistle. The man received the epistles he mailed to himself and then read them as if each had been written just for him. If God sent you a letter in the mail, and you went to the mailbox and saw your name on the front of the envelope and the sender being God Himself, you would not throw it away or put it on a shelf to collect dust.  If you got a letter written to you personally from God, you would read it repeatedly until you knew every word and every subtle nuance in the text, because you were being informed by a knowledge that comes from God Himself. I am firmly convinced that we have this very thing in sacred Scripture, which is why we never graduate from the school of Christ. We are to be always learning more deeply, more carefully, and hopefully more accurately the things that are contained in this Word. (R.C. Sproul)

Just like getting birthday cards in the mail, we have letters from God.
We have God’s Word, which was written to us.
The man described in Dr. Sproul’s book had it right.
The Word of God is a sacred Word for all times and for all people.

If it helps to think that each letter in the New Testament is written just for you, think that way.
If it helps to see your own name in the salutation, mentally put it there.
If it helps to see God sign His name to each personal letter, see it in your mind’s eye.
If it helps to send copies of God’s Word to yourself in the mail, then send them; memorize them.

We have the complete, inerrant Word of God.
Once the Holy Spirit opens our eyes, ears, and heart to God’s Word, we can understand it.
The Word of God is unchanging.
The Word of God lasts forever.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

Put your name in the salutation of each epistle.
See the signature of God after each letter.
Read God’s letters over and over.
Remember what God has said to you.

I save my birthday cards from one year to the next.
Receiving them and reading them delights my heart.
The Word of God is for all people and for all time.
The Word of God, unlike my birthday cards, stands forever.

2 responses to “Written For Me”

1. This is beautiful! I am really enjoying your writing.

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   • Thank you, Cathy! Thank you for your encouraging words. I am so delighted that you are blessed.
     Gina

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