A letter from X to….

Anyone who has ever looked into the Bible will know the Bible books of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and, for example, Thessalonians.

Have you ever considered that these were not originally Bible books, but letters sent to someone? That an envelope has been used with a stamp? A real letter? Some kind of newsletter? Some kind of blog? Like you’re reading one right now?

The authors therefore did not write these letters to have them published in a book form (Bible). That was not their intention. The writers could therefore never have known (during their lives) that their letters ended up in the Bible and what they have meant until today!

And when we read those letters, we also read about a huge amount of misery that “happened” to the writers.

• Peter and John are arrested by Sadducees, interrogated by the Sanhedrin and flogged
• Stephen is arrested by “the people… the elders and the scribes”, interrogated before the Sanhedrin and stoned to death.
• King Herod executes James and imprisons Peter
• Paul and Barnabas are expelled from Antioch in Pisidia.
• Paul and Silas are scourged and imprisoned by pagans in Philippi.

And it just goes on and on and on…. and that is what the authors of those books also write about.

Now some more thinking…. Would they have never thought: “why!!??”. One after the other died a terrible death… and had no idea what happened to those letters. Until their death.

God’s great plan that those letters would end up in our bible, they have never seen in their lives. Their lives were not easy and (humanly speaking) often ended badly.

And yet their letters have made it into the Bible, to encourage and teach us. Up to the present day. For thousands of years…

And now this day… when did you write down how you were doing? What have you experienced with God? Not only the beautiful, but also the less beautiful things?

Because those letters….. Can be a huge encouragement… without you ever knowing it. Come on, start writing, share with people what happened. And if you don’t like writing with a pen… isn’t writing on “social” media something like that? When did you share your real stories there? Who knows what those stories could mean for someone else.

Oh, and who wonders why we write these blogs and sometimes so many? Now you have an answer…. for your encouragement. We hope it also helps you in good… and bad times.