Monday, January 30: Jeremiah 29- Letters a lost art.

Funny how God highlights unique things each morning I spend with Him and His Word. Today I found myself contemplating letter writing, something I do not do often or well. The chapter begins, This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon (1). It was Jeremiah’s writing of the letter that stuck to me.

Letters can serve many purposes; ‘Dear John’ letters, legal letters, love letters, ‘what’s going on in life’ letters, and so on. Jeremiah writes a letter to encourage the exiles in Babylon.

By and large letter writing is a relic of the past. We email, text, Facebook and tweet others, maybe call. Few of us write letters. I suspect our culture has lost something. The world changes…

My thoughts were about the power of an encouraging word. Jeremiah’s letter must have set the exiles at ease. It didn’t remove the strangeness of the situation, but certainly knowing how to be faithful in exilic times must have eased the fears of those who believed Jeremiah to be God’s prophet. Apt words have incredible power. A simple word, no matter the medium of communication, can lift the down-hearted and propel the light-hearted to even greater heights. Such is the power of encouragement.

I flopped from Jeremiah’s day to mine and wondered, who could use a ‘pick-me-up’ word?

Whether I ultimately use email, text, Facebook, phone call or even, yes, a letter sent by snail-mail to convey my words, it is the words that have power to encourage…

Who might I encourage today?  That’s my take-a-way from this wonderful chapter in God’s Word.

Another thought – isn’t it wonderful that God put His Word in writing? Another powerful aspect of the Written Word is that we can go back to it again and again to gain more insight and repeated encouragement… What a great and thoughtful God we serve.

Lord, thank You for Your Word and Your Word to me today. Show me who could use a note of encouragement, appreciation and love today. And as I write, may my simple words encourage just as Your Word has encouraged me today. In and through Jesus, the Word become flesh, I pray. Amen.

 

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