Truly Yours
Isaiah 43:1: But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
I don’t know how many of you remember this closing to a “friendly” or business letter. It seems to have fallen out of favor, along with hand-written cards and letters. We use email and texting to communicate and to remember but we know that these methods are dependent upon a vast web of electronic media and everything could vanish, never to return.
I am so pleased that some of you and others in the church send cards and letters to comfort, to entertain and to inform. And those who receive these missives often will save them and they will last as long as they don’t get wet or don’t burn up.
The oldest texts are some 5,000-year-old Iranian tablets and are mostly accounts of property holdings. And of course, they’re written on clay tablets
The earliest extant paper fragment was unearthed at Fangmatan in Gansu province, and was likely part of a map, dated to 179–141 BC. So paper will last a good long time if it’s cared for property.
We all know that God does not write letters as we think of them, but he does communicate in various ways, such as during Belshazzar’s feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel). God also communicates through the burning bush, with the still small voice and through answered (and unanswered) prayer. And you know, somehow I think that God ends each message, “Truly yours,” for if we call on God, God is truly ours and we are truly God’s. Praise God for always being present for us and for giving us his Son as a sacrifice so that we are God’s both now and evermore. Amen.
Biscuit City 