2 Peter 1:13-15 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

Leaving a written record was especially important in the 1^st Century, when the canon of Scripture had not been set, and doubly so for Peter, who was of the inner circle of the apostles. Tradition as well as modern analytical scholarship tell us that the Gospel of Mark is essentially as Peter told it to Mark. James, as the first of the 12 to be martyred, never had an opportunity to leave anything written, and interestingly, his brother John was the last to leave a written record. That said, written records of what God has said and how He has worked have hardly been insignificant even in the centuries since the canon was closed. People still read the sermons of Spurgeon, for example, and are greatly blessed. The point is that what we are given from the Lord, whether it be materially, intellectually or spiritually, is never just for us; it is to be shared. The greater the treasure, the greater the responsibility to bless others with it. Sometimes we have a distorted idea of the value of what we have been given, either too high or too low. The important thing is to hold everything loosely, allowing God to show us how it is to be used to build up the Body of Christ.

This is an immediate issue for me, with the current difficulties in getting this blog posted. Feedback I have gotten has made it clear that the content has blessed many, which is why there are problems: the devil doesn’t want it to get out. I need wisdom in getting the English blog back on line, and I need wisdom in dealing with the translation issue in the Japanese blog. Internet technology can be a great blessing in communication, but in itself it is no more than a tool. Much of the content is inconsequential or worse. I need to be sensitive and obedient so that I won’t be adding to the “inconsequential or worse,” but rather communicating the truth that has been spoken to me in the love of the One who spoke it.

Father, I’ve been under a good bit of attack emotionally over this issue in recent days. Help me indeed hold everything loosely, allowing You to show me how it is to be used and shared, so that Your purposes may be fulfilled on every level, in me and in those to whom I minister, in person or otherwise, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!