Mailboxes

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (KJV)

When I was little, we lived on an airport base, and I loved it when I was given the responsibility to walk down the hill to the "Admin" building, where my dad worked, to collect our mail from the box.

Later when we moved to town, I often picked up our mail at the post office on the way home from high school. There's just something about the excitement of inserting your key to open a little box bearing letters and other goodies, either expected or unexpected, that's not really replicated in any other situation.

Then came house-to-house delivery. That presented its own excitement, for we had to wait for the mailperson to bring it at a designated time. It also usually afforded an opportunity to get to know the mail delivery person.

There's a saying that goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same" — something from which even the postal system seems not to be exempt. For as much as we've become accustomed to having our mail delivered, and as much as the postal delivery people are appreciated, it seems that now, more often than not, it is becoming more expedient and cost effective to go back to a version of the old mailbox, in the form of the "superboxes". For those to whom this applies, they once again are responsible for collecting their own mail.

How we receive our spiritual nourishment is somewhat like the mailboxes.

Where once we could only go and get our Sunday morning sermons, now, like the mail delivery person, radio, television, and the Internet bring them to us. While this offers a greater outreach, especially for shut-ins, it also keeps some of us out of the pews, necessitating in closures or amalgamations of some churches.

Yet, with respect to God's Word, "the more things change, the more they stay the same". No matter how much the delivery or reception of His message has changed through the ages, the more His message has stayed the same.

Prayer: We give thanks to You, O God, for You and Your words are the constant in our vastly and fastly changing lives. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.