Delivered, but Fallen Short

How many times have you driven past something and not really noticed? I’m not talking about the deer on the edge of the woods whose color and stealth prevent you from seeing it. What about the mundane things that everyone drives by without understanding its spiritual implication? Viewing such an object recently occurred while driving to work. Although I’m aware of most of the environment around me while driving, what stood out was the newspaper on the ground. You know. The one inside that translucent, pale, red plastic bag; the one that for whatever reason never made it into the specially established delivery box on a post next to the mail box.

That snapshot got me to thinking and the first thought was, “I’ve fallen short of the Glory of God,” as referenced in Romans 3:23. Almost immediately the next thought arrived. The paper had been delivered. How do we know that? The bigger picture indicates that next to the mail box is a driveway leading to someone’s home. It also shows that all of the papers delivered on that stretch of road were lying on the ground. There was no other reason for those papers to be lying there were it not for the intent to be for the owners to have them.

But wait. Remember the receptacle especially made for the delivery? What if this paper wasn’t the one that owned the box? For instance, the box may have been established for the Kingston Freeman delivery and this paper was the Ulster County Shopper. Still, the inference makes it the property owner's. The Ulster County paper has been offered. It has not yet been accepted; therefore it has not yet been delivered.

I find my life much like that. I have chosen to receive many writings: newspapers, novels, history books and school texts. Each delivered at a particular time for a particular purpose, be it work, recreation, or simple interest in the subject matter. On the other hand, there has been a book offered consistently that has often been ignored, left lying, or picked up and put away so I didn’t have to look at it. It’s fairly plain, neat lettering on the cover, no pictures inside, nothing on the cover that screams, “Look at me!” It’s my Bible.

Within the church we expect that our brothers and sisters choose to read the Bible because it is part of the faith; it’s where faith comes from (Romans 10:17). They have been delivered. The book comes to them in the place appointed for its storage; the box on the post, or within their heart.

 It’s the other recipients of this book, who turn it down or put it away because it is not convenient for them, that are represented by this snapshot. The Word is delivered to them in many ways, often right at their feet or within hearing distance, but they choose to ignore it, to follow other interests, or through blindness determine that it is not for them. It is these people for whom God showed me the paper lying on the ground. Although I have fallen short of the Glory of God, I do have the Book to give and it’s my responsibility to deliver it. What others do with it is up to them, but I must not ignore His call to be the paperboy.