You're a Letter From Christ

"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts and known by everybody.  You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

In the book of 2nd Corinthians Paul was trying to validate his ministry in order to convince the church at Corinth to listen to his instructions.  They wanted him to present letters of recommendation, but he refused saying that they were his letter.  Their lives and the way their lives changed was proof that the Gospel that Paul preached was true.

I love this imagery.  You are a letter from Christ.  What a cool thought.

Paul also talks about letters written on stone versus letters written on hearts.  Here is what he's referring to:

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,' declares the LORD.
'I will put my law on their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be there God
and they will be my people."
Jeremiah 31:33

We are a letter from God because God writes His law on our hearts when we are saved.  Also:

"... I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."  Ezekiel 36:27

If you have Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are a letter from God.  When we become Christians God begins to write His law on our hearts and to place the Holy Spirit in us to move us to follow Him.

We are letters from God for all to read because people will see this change and will notice a difference.  You cannot be a Christian and be unchanged.  It is impossible!  If you say that you're a Christian, but that you haven't changed you are claiming that God is mighty enough to save you from the penalty of your sin, but not powerful enough to change you.  Do you really think you are some stubborn stone that is too heavy for God to push?  Do you really think there is something that God cannot do?

When you accept the reign of Christ in your life you will have the Holy Spirit in you and you will have God actively writing His law on your heart.  When you become a Christian you will be a letter from God to the world.

Don't misunderstand me.  I'm not saying that we should be judgmental and start setting up our own idea of what pace at which other people's lives should be changing.  God works in all of us at different speeds, but He works in all of us without question.

So, ask yourself: "Am I a good letter?"  "Is my letter being displayed to the public or am I keeping myself in the file cabinet?"

The old saying is that we're the only Bible some people will ever read.

Live changed.  Be a letter from Christ today.