I am studying several different things in my own personal Bible study right now and one of my deep dives is Psalm 119. Yep, that is the big long one that goes on and on. I will stay with that Psalm until God tells me to move on to something else.

When I first study a passage I like to read it and see what words jump out at me. The Holy Spirit is active inside of us and wants to guide us into all wisdom so I read and see what words my eye draws back on. While reading Psalm 119 through, my eyes stopped on verse 83. The author is tired and trying to remain faithful in the midst of trying circumstances. “Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.” Wineskin in the smoke? That intrigued me. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Evidently, when wineskins were empty they were hung up in tents and other dwellings. If they hung too long and too close to the heat of the fire they would become shriveled and useless and the soot from the smoke would smudge them and turn them black. The author of the Psalm was relating the condition of his heart to that very image.

That was an interesting fact to learn but I knew the Holy Spirit would have more to lead me to as I pondered the meaning. As I have pondered, I must say that I found myself relating somewhat to the image. Perhaps you find yourself relating as well. These are trying times. I despise conflict. I will go out of my way to keep peace and balance in my life. Everywhere we turn these days there is conflict and deep disagreement to the point of taking sides and treating people that don’t agree with our point of view with disdain and in many cases, hatred. We talk a lot and listen little. Politics, covid, racial tensions, police, protests, etc. The lack of respect and even common civility is so disheartening.

It wouldn’t be that uncommon for our hearts to smudge from the soot and shrivel from the heat.

But God.

Ah, yes, in His infinite wisdom, He knew that His children would feel like strangers in a strange land. We weren’t built to fight and complain and be blinded by the need to be right. We were built and are being built to love. To have tenderized hearts to love people where they are….all people….yep, even the ones that disagree with us. God knew we would need His Words, His truths, when all else seems smudged and shriveled. He knew we were not meant to be like the rest of the world and follow their pattern. We are a people set apart for a purpose. Not better, just set apart.

God sent me to another passage this week and it has reset my heart and pulled me away from the fire. He reminded me that I am not and you are not, and cannot be, a wineskin in the smoke. You and I are love letters to this hurting world.

2 Corinthians 3: 2+3NIV, “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.”

Wow. Just wow. The most special letters I write are always on yellow legal pad paper. It’s just my thing. I don’t write that many letters anymore….it seems to be becoming a lost art, but when I do write them I am trying to convey what is in my heart. God does not use yellow legal pad paper to write His intimate words of tender love to this world. He uses us. He writes them on our hearts. Think about it for a minute. Can you imagine His finger writing words of hope and peace and joy and great love on us?

I want Him to write volumes in me and I want to let everyone I am around to read and hear every last one of them.

It would be so easy to back off and just ease into the mainstream with everyone else and become like everyone else. After all, aren’t love letters old fashioned and irrelevant in our highly sophisticated society? I think not. I think people are screaming on the inside (and some on the outside) to hear all the lovey dovey, syrupy sweet words of love and affection that God longs to share. He is the Great Lover who wants to woo us into His very heart. He has chosen us to be those messengers. He has chosen our hearts to display the message. Shriveled and smudged hearts will be hard to read. Turn away from the world and the need to give people your opinion. Give them your tender heart instead. It is what I will continue to do. It is really all I know to do in this world.

I will be His yellow legal pad. It will be my joy and privilege. I hope you will share your words as well. I need your love letter. And you need mine.