The Mail Box:

The Mailbox.  A small child ponders the mailbox about as often as they consider whether to start eating their green beans or mashed potatoes first at dinner.  It's a funny little building on a pole, nothing more.  That is, unless they are expecting an important delivery; such as a Captain Whiz-Bang Space Explorer laser gun, or a personally addressed letter from their grandpa and grandma.  With these exciting expectations, a child can effectively lay siege to any standard mailbox until their precious delivery arrives.

The Mailbox.  To adults it has increasingly become a portal to an evil dimension that appears to excrete only junk mail and bills.  If only there existed an adult version of a Captain Whiz-Bang Space Explorer laser gun that would destroy this dark appendage of the enemy.  Oh, to be a child again and eagerly anticipate the simple things, such as a long and wonderfully personal letter from a loved one!

The Letter:

One day, the evil mailbox fails in its methodical vomiting forth of kindling and creditors' statements.  Instead, the usually overstuffed abdomen is desolate, containing only a single envelope.  But upon this uncharacteristic envelope is something strange.  A handwritten address!  It's a letter!  Proceeding warily, suspecting some sort of cruel booby-trap, a cautious glance reveals that this letter is indeed addressed to you!  The joy of the moment is magnified by the obvious lack of Ed McMahon's picture anywhere in sight.  A letter from a friend!  Eagerly, the envelope is shredded to reveal it's lovingly written contents.

Hmmmmm . . . . Glad?  Glad to hear about what? . . . . Did I talk to Uncle who? . . . . Granny died?  What granny?  Whose granny?  I feel bad about granny, but I'd really be upset if I knew who granny was.  This is obviously a very personal and intimate letter that's been addressed to me, but I'm afraid I have no knowledge of who wrote it at all.  If I did, I'm sure some of these details would be extremely important, possibly even vital.  But since I don't know the author, it's merely a collection of meaningless words on stationary.

The Word:

"The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His word." 1 Samuel 3:21 NIV.  Our ever-interceding savior Jesus has written us a very personal, detailed and loving letter; we call it the Bible.  We call it the Word.  We call it the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).  We see it's author as a rider on a white horse with His robe dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13).  Jesus is this letter-writing friend and He wants us to read what He's written to us.

We are introduced to Him first in Genesis 3:15, though John 1:1 tells us He was around even before creation began.  The plans were made for His first visit to earth and subsequent rejection by man long before the actual events transpired.  Revelation 13:8 tells us that our precious Lamb Jesus was slain before the creation of the world.  Our redemption was not a course correction by God to fix something He didn't plan on, rather it was supernaturally devised to provide us with a way where there was no way.  It is a living plan that confounds the wisdom of man and frustrates the greatest obstacle in man's path, death.  Jesus has it all covered in His letter to us, but we must know Him to have His Word have any meaning in our lives.  Remember the words of our friend at the mailbox;

" . . . . since I don't know the author, it's merely a collection of meaningless words . . . . "

Would you have any desire to read a letter from a complete stranger?  Admittedly, it is addressed to you, but though the author knows His subject, does the subject know the author?

Consider, for example, the intimate comments that students write in the yearbooks of those they've spent hundreds of class and study hours with.  Those intimacies are meaningless and empty to everyone, save the person to whom they are intended.  It is the same with Jesus' Word to us.  He intended it for all of us.  It is of a supernatural origin, which explains why the same verse has personal and intimate applications to many different people and many different circumstances -- all at the same time!  We must learn to know the Author!

Many a theologian and scholar have deep and detailed knowledge of His Word, but that does not speak of their intimate knowledge of the Author Himself.  We must, as His disciples, develop a knowledge of Him that is more than just cerebral, it must fill our heart and soul as well (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27).  Many have realized this need and upon reaching the same conclusion ask, "I agree with the fact that I must know Jesus, but how do I do it?"

"Best-Friendmanship":

The children encamped around the mailbox know the "secret" of knowing Jesus.  Their beloved grandparents who wrote to them know it too.  Those young adults in high school and college who leave an intimate tidbit forever scrawled on the inside cover of a yearbook know the "secret".  The biblical scholar who weeps when he reads of the nails tearing through the flesh of our Lord's hands and feet as He was cruelly fastened to the Cross knows the "secret" very well.  How does one acquire a best friend in this world?  Do you merely pick up a book and read about him?  If that were the case, Christopher Columbus and George Washington would be everybody's best friend.  Do you make a list of all the things you want and need and then present them to someone who, upon granting the entire list, will become your best friend?

Best friends take time to develop.  You talk to them, and not just to always ask; then you listen to them.  Often, you listen to them with more than your ears; you may listen with your heart.  The circumstances around you speak volumes, but you must discern who is doing the talking.  Most best friends can laugh and, even more importantly, cry with each other.  They share joys and sorrows alike, and they joy in the sharing.  That's how it must be with Jesus.  Carefully contemplate what He has done for you already.  Prayerfully doing this will soften your heart and allow you to share every detail of your life with Him.  Soon, you'll see that He does speak to you; then you, as a best friend, should listen.  Begin by writing Him a letter, a real letter, with paper and pencil.  Share with Him what He means to you.  Tell Him thanks for what He did for you in His past as well as what He did for you in your past.

Read His Word with a thirst, and pray with the expectancy of a best friend waiting by the mailbox for a letter from a loved one that you KNOW is coming.  He will never disappoint you.

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A Letter From A Friend

The Goodsoil Discipleship Ministry

By Bro. Andy Madonio

March 27, 1996

Introduction:

Writing letters is usually not near the top of one's favorite things to do list.  I believe the root cause of this problem lies in our society's modern fear of intimacy.  Because we avoid real intimacy at all costs, our "personal notes" to one another have degraded into regurgitated, inane chit-chat which serves only to fill up the space on greeting cards and stationary pads.  Hence, letter writing has become a difficult and boring exercise at both ends of the stamp.  This is very sad.  Historically, personal letters have served to fill in the gaps regarding the private details of many individuals from the famous to the infamous.

Another problem in our society that has resulted in the current comatose condition in the art of letter writing is simply that time is involved.  We are too impatient to think and ponder.  The 'glue' that cements friendships takes a long time to set.  Today we prefer 'glue-stick' relationships which go together much faster.  They have a problem however; although those glue-sticks are convenient, they adhere with a weak bond.  Our relationships, or failed relationships, speak for this all too well.

If Jesus is not worth the time to you, you might as well "eat and drink . . . for tomorrow you die"  (Isaiah 22:13).  Oh, but He IS worth the time!  Just take the time and find out!