Written Any Letters Lately?

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand.  If anyone does not love the Lord—a curse be on him. Come, O Lord!  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.  My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.  –I Corinthians 16:21-24

Back before the days of email when we had to find pen and paper, and then sit down and write a letter, I always enjoyed doing so.  I did not write a great many letters, but I have written a few, and still do if the person doesn’t have a computer or is never on the Internet.  We call this old fashioned way of communicating “snail mail,” right?  If you are anything like me you have probably sent hundreds more emails than letters.  It’s so much easier isn’t it?  With a letter, you have to find the address, write it on the envelope, secure a stamp, and get the letter in the mail.  When you compare that with an email it all does indeed seem complicated.  Today we type the email, press “send,” and its there – just like that.  

And you know something?  I sort of miss sitting down and writing letters.  Could it be that when we had to write out a letter by hand that we were perhaps a little more thoughtful with that we said?  Maybe we spent a little more time considering how best to convey our feelings.  I dare say that many, if not most of us, could benefit from taking the time to send a good old-fashioned letter once in a while.  You might even find it to be therapeutic.   

At the end of the New Testament book of I Corinthians, Paul the Apostle indicated that he wrote this letter with his own hand.  He would have used some sort of quill pen, ink, and a parchment scroll to communicate to the believers what the Lord had laid upon his heart.  And he did so with the greatest of care, thoughtfulness, and prayerful consideration.  He closed out his letter with an earnest prayer that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ would be upon the church.  Paul also reminded them of how much he loved them. 

 

Is there someone who could benefit from hearing from you today; an old friend or a relative, perhaps?  Think about what a blessing it could be, and a pleasant surprise, for someone to receive a kind or encouraging word from you in the form of a letter.  A face-to-face visit can be wonderful, a phone call is good, an email is something, but a letter can be most special.  “What would I say?  How would I begin?” You may wonder.  I am confident that once you get started that the Lord will give you the words you need.

Let someone know today how much you care.  Remind the person also that the Lord cares as well.  A troubled soul is out there and you may be just the one God has called to bring encouragement today.  There are tremendous blessings in reaching out to someone today.