It is time for the news!

In today's electronic age, we seldom resort to "snail mail" as a means of keeping in touch with others in our lives.  I am quite guilty of this myself.  It is not that I have lost the ability to write a letter, place a stamp on it, and walk it to the mailbox.  It is the "immediacy" of email and instant messaging which makes it all the more appealing to me.  In the past, the "news" we'd share about changes in our lives would come via the postal service, arriving to the recipient days after the "news" was indeed "news".  In the military, we had mail call.  It was a time when we'd all gather around in hopes of one link to home in the form of a small envelope filled with "news" and maybe even a little token of love.  In turn, our loved ones would hurry to the mailbox when they'd see the familiar mailman's truck passing by.  We all want to know the "news" of another's life.

Does it sound like we're patting ourselves on the back, insisting on our credentials, asserting our authority? Well, we're not. Neither do we need letters of endorsement, either to you or from you. You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it. (2 Corinthians 3:1-3 The Message)

We are all "writing letters" of a different sort - the letter written on a human heart touched by the hand of a forgiving and loving God.  These are letters which are "read" by many - not just those closest to us.  The "news" of a changed life is indeed something to be heralded.


I want to challenge us for a moment.  Let me pose a couple of thoughts about what is being "written" in our hearts today.  


- First, "news" is the report of something recent - a new event or occurrence.  What can you point to in your life today which reflects the hand of God writing on your heart something which is new or fresh?  If you are having a little difficulty with this one, then maybe it is time to seek him out - taking some time to allow his touch to be felt almost always assures us of seeing the evidence of his "writing" in our lives.


- Second, "news" is usually a collection of things - not just one point or idea.  In order to "frame" the "news", one has to "tell the story".  When God sets out to write his story in us, he "frames" the story.  There is something about God's writing which points others to see the trail grace has made as it traces over our souls.  In the reviewing of the various "points", one sees a clear picture of who and what God has done in our lives.


- Third, "news" is something written and expressed - it is not "news" if it is kept to oneself.  It is simply "new" knowledge if we keep it to ourselves.  God's purpose for "writing" on our hearts is so others can see and enjoy the story.  Look at what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church.  He did not need all kinds of letters of endorsement from others - his greatest letter of endorsement was a changed life.  Our lives are evidence of God's "re-creative" power.  They are "news" worthy of expression.  


So, really there are various forms of "mail" we read in life - the instant electronic type, the snail mail type, and the ever-present "mail" of a life touched by his hand.  Others are "reading" us each and everyday.  I wonder what "news" they will see today by looking upon my life?  How about you?