Junk Mail in Heaven
Junk Mail in Heaven
500 million pieces. That’s how much mail the US Postal service processes every single day. That’s 350,000 per minute… 6,000 per second! Those are pretty impressive stats, but how much of that mail is really worthwhile? I mean, how many pieces include the words: “SALE”... “pre-approved credit”... or “Publisher’s Clearinghouse?”
I never really think about how much mail we get until we return home from a long trip. It seems like the delivery truck unloads twice as much documentation on us whenever we go away. The slippery heap of catalogs, bills and supermarket fliers spills across the front hall table and onto the floor, but the sorting process goes quickly.
The majority of the stack goes directly into the circular file. Junk mail. A complete waste of time for the sender and the receiver. Sharply designed catalogs are also tossed aside, the hard work that went into their creation barely acknowledged. Bills form an ugly pile that we’d rather not even look at. In the end, we’re left with just a small handful of items with any rewarding value: a few personal letters… maybe a thank-you card… or an invitation to a special gathering.
Sometimes I wonder if God’s future sort process will be similar. In Romans and Corinthians we read that all believers will stand before the Lord for an evaluation of their entire lives. The good and the bad… accomplishments and mistakes… time well spent and time wasted. Millions of events and moments will be sorted and processed. Perhaps the breakdown will look something like this:
Junk mail = Our time spent on secular TV shows, movies, books, video games, web-surfing, mindless social media, etc. Not necessarily “bad” things, but nothing of spiritual significance or impact. Destination: the Heavenly trash bin.
Catalogs = Our time spent on respectable earthly activities and achievements. Well done and attractive, but ultimately of little eternal importance unless specifically used for godly purposes.
Bills = The sin in our lives. A large and ugly stack -- difficult to even look at.
Personal letters = Detailed stories and accounts of all the things we did in service and honor to God. Treasured, saved, and remembered.
Thank you cards = The worship, praise, and thanksgiving we offered the Lord with our lips and our lives.
Invitations = Our efforts to witness to non-believers, inviting them to join us in God’s kingdom.
What kind of “mail” are we sending God right now? Will we arrive Home in Heaven after our life’s journey to find we’ve sent the Lord a stack of mostly junk mail and bills to sort through? Or are we using our time to send valuable personal deliveries that will be treasured for all eternity?
2 Corinthians 5:10 — "For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body."
– Ron Reid
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