LightGrams
July 18, 2019
Volume 23, Number 26
Three things stood out to Kim Draper as she looked at the envelope left in her mailbox. The most obvious was that it was addressed to someone else; but then she saw that the address was for the house in which she lives. The second fact was that it was postmarked July 8, and she had just picked it up that day – July 8. Pretty fast delivery?
No, the year postmarked on the letter was 1993 – 26 years before! The letter was mailed to people who no longer lived at that address, and despite Kim’s best efforts she has not been able to find the intended recipients. She does know that the letter inside is signed “Dad”, so she figures it may hold special value.
Letters from the past can indeed be special. Our parents wrote many letters to each other when my father was stationed in Germany during World War 2. What a treasure these have been! I have scanned each one so that if anything happens to the letters we’ll still have digital images of each.
The Bible is a “letter” from God, a message of love, warning, and guidance. Paul spoke of this truth in this way: “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
How do I view the Bible? Many view it as an old, outdated work from centuries ago. It may be worthy of study as a classic piece of literature, but certainly nothing on which we should base our lives. After all, the newest parts of the Bible are 2,000 years old!
We don’t disagree; the Bible is old. But if the author is the eternal God of the universe, age doesn’t diminish its value. He has preserved it through the millennia so that we who live in the 21st century AD can still know about our dilemma of sin, and the saving blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Here is a message of first importance that has been in the delivery system for 1,900 years (in its completed form). Yet many will not open their “mail box” to receive it. They still don’t know that God yearns to forgive them and to be reconciled with them.
John 3:16 has been called “the golden text” for good reasons: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That qualifies as good news, wouldn’t you say?
But good news is of little value unless it is received. Therefore, let us “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2019, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “Tim@GraceMine.org” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
Permission to reproduce and/or use the messages for noncommercial purposes is freely granted provided the messages are not altered.