Read: 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone, since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.”
Understand:
- Who are we recognized and read by?
- We are described as being whose letter?
- Where has the Spirit of God written His word?
Listen: Years ago, my mother bought me a Snow Baby because she knew how much I loved snow and the Christmas season. I loved it so much that I started collecting them and she would get one for me almost every Christmas or on other special occasions and I would buy one when my family and I went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee because they have a year-round Christmas store that we always visit while we’re there. One of the Snow Babies, in particular, is my favorite. It has one of the Babies with a writing tablet in front of it and they have written “It’s never too late to rewrite your life story.” I love this! Not only has it served to inspire me to make changes in my life but it reminds me that God’s word is written on our hearts (Psalm 119:11) and He can renew us every time we need Him to.
In my Bible, I took a highlighter and summarized 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 so I could focus in on what it is saying better. It looks something like this in my Bible:
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone, since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.”
Can you see what it says? Let’s write this as one sentence summarized so it’s easier to understand.
It is plain that you are Christ’s letter, written with the Spirit of the living God, on tablets that are hearts of flesh.
Our lives are like a letter that tells the story of how Christ is alive and working in us. We want people to read this letter so they can understand how wonderful it is to have a relationship with Christ, knowing that He granted us salvation through His sacrifice on the cross. In some ways, this is a little intimidating to me because I mess up – a lot! But then I think of that Snow Baby my mother gave me, It’s never too late to rewrite your life story. We live with the grace of Christ and can ask for forgiveness when we do mess up. We can change our life for the better but we need to remember that how we live and what we do in this life is eternal. Even for those who live a simple, quiet life and aren’t center stage for the world to see, they are leaving a letter for others. You don’t have to be in the spotlight for others to read your story.
When I was little, we would visit my great-grandparents farm all the time. That was one of the most magical places to me. Their house only had one bathroom but my Papaw Brooks kept his Bible sitting on the back of the toilet all the time. I remember thinking how funny it was that he kept it there and snickering about when he would read the Bible. If you opened the Bible, he had made notes throughout it, the pages were worn and crinkled, and he had stuffed little pieces of paper in it with more notes he had written down and thought important enough to keep. Many times, as a kid and later as an adult, I would pick up that Bible and look through it. Without even knowing it, or maybe he did know, he served as an inspiration to me on how important it is to study God’s word. I never told him how amazing I thought that Bible was and wish now that I had. I was able to read a part of his letter and see first-hand how his story affected so many lives.
Just remember, we are all writing letters and we can change the course of our life letters whenever we need to. Whether we realize it not, our life letters are eternal for us as well as for others.
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the guidance You give us for our lives. Sometimes the most simple things in life, like a Bible kept in the bathroom, can make a significant impact on our lives. Help us to remember that our life letters are not just for us but can also be used to bring others to You. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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