My wife and I just recently moved to a new condominium in the Big City. As you could imagine, moving from a larger home to a smaller condo is quite challenging. We have lots of items to possible discard or sell and other items we simply just have to store and organize better. The good news is we’re making good progress and the new place is beginning to look more and more like home.
As I was unpacking, there was one particular box that caught my attention. In this box, I had packed a lifetimes worth of letters; cards; and gifts from others. You know what I’m referring to. The Father’s Day cards your daughter and son wrote to you in kindergarten. The love notes from your wife that make me to this day wonder what she sees in me, even though I’m eternally grateful. The report cards from your children showing their good grades (must be heredity) and the random note telling you what a great dad you’ve been or how you’re special to them. These are items that are priceless and just really take me down memory lane remembering the fun, the trials, the adventures, and all the seasons in life that make it so wonderful.
There was one particular letter, however, that made me stop. It was a letter my mom had written to me in 1985. I had forgotten that she had even written the letter, but it became especially meaningful now since she passed away in 2006. It was almost like she was there talking to me. It was like she had never left and this letter was a small legacy of her influence on my life.
In the letter, she was telling me how thankful she was for my Dad and what a blessing he had been for her and how that I was so much like him. She went on to thank God for sending my wife to me and how she knew my wife was definitely God-sent and a perfect help mate to me. She closed the letter by telling my how much she loved me and how proud she was of me. Wow!! How much did I need to read that today!!
Even though she’s been gone now for 4 years, that letter from 1985 was a lasting tribute from her to me that will always be with me. I’m sure she didn’t realize it at the time, but the words in that letter “live” in my heart today as I read them, some 25 years later.
As Christians, we have a similar letter written to us. It’s called The Bible. It’s sad to me that so many today feel the Bible is outdated or irrelevant. In reality, it couldn’t be more up-to-date. Even though God’s word was written thousands of years ago, it’s message filled with love and hope and encouragement mean as much today as it did all those years ago when Christ walked on this Earth.
Is it time for you to have a new love affair with God’s Word? Maybe you need to dust off the cover and begin reading HIS Word again. Just like when I read my mom’s letter to me all those years ago, her letter had as much, if not more, meaning to me now in my life than it did when the letter was written. A mom’s love has a way of knowing what to say and when to say it. A mom’s love has a way of praising and encouraging, but balancing that with the right amount of discipline and focus and instruction.
God’s Word is no different. I would encourage you to fall in love with God’s Word again and allow HIS words of guidance and encouragement to reach the inner-most depths of your being so that your Christian Walk will be stronger and be a lasting testimony to others.
