You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts. . .

Hello! Checking in a little late today. I can't believe how much I have to do between now and Sunday! It's nice to have Memorial Day off, but that leaves me with one less day to get my work done. Plus I have to make time for the Penguin game too. . . *Sigh* Well, we might as well get down to business!

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Who was Paul looking for when he came to Troas? Where did he go after that? (2 Cor 2)
2 Corinthians 2:12-13 12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.

And here's the question of the day:
What does Paul compare Christians to in 2 Corinthians 3?

And here's the reflection of the day:
When I was in high school, I remember agonizing over who I should ask to write me a letter of recommendation for college. And when I was in college, I agonized again over who to ask to write a letter of recommendation for Seminary.

They are tricky things, letters of recommendation. You want someone who will be positive, but you don't want to sound like Jesus reincarnated. You want someone who will be honest about your faults, but you don't want to sound like Judas reincarnated.

A letter of recommendation should be something that represents you--honestly and openly. It should be a sign of your true character and integrity.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is telling the believers in Corinth that they are his living letters of recommendation: "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read 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" (vv 2-3).

What a great image! Christians are meant to be letters from Christ, written to our neighbors. We are meant to live as letters from Christ--honestly and openly, as a sign of God's character and integrity--to the world around us.

Pentecost is coming up on Sunday: consider the Holy Spirit to be the stamp on you, a letter from Christ, to the world around you. God is sending you out--go in peace, to love and serve the Lord!