At least three events call for a celebration today and they all revolve around the same entity: the USPS.
The Postage Stamp. If you like to collect and study stamps, you are involved in philately. Today, all philatelically leaning individuals are cheering because this is National U.S. Postage Stamp Day. On this day in 1847, the first stamps were issued.
Prior to stamps, letters were delivered, and the recipient had to pay for them. Imagine if that were the case today with all the junk mail and political mailers during election cycles!
Philatelic people would know the answer to this question immediately. Who were the first two characters to appear on postage stamps? It was none other than Benjamin Franklin, found of the U.S. Postal system and our first president, Geoge Washington. And the original price? Two cents!
The Plan. On this day in 1963, we were introduced to the Zone Improvement Plan – ZIP codes. I was today years old when I found out what “zip” meant!
“In 1943, the Post Office had created numbered zones for more than 100 urban areas around the country. But in the post-WWII boom, that system quickly became inadequate. Between 1943 and 1962, annual mail volume doubled from 33 billion to 66.5 billion pieces, and the average mailed letter passed through an average of 17 sorting stops. Suburbs were sprouting exponentially, and mail transport was shifting from railway to highway and air, making old urban hub systems obsolete.”1
Did you know that there are 41,704 ZIP Codes in the country? And those numbers mean
something. “The first number in the five-digit ZIP Code represents a general geographic area of the nation, “0” in the east, moving to “9” in the west. The next two numbers represent regional areas, and the final two identify specific Post Offices.”2
The Person. We have the stamps, the letters, and they are all addressed with the proper zip code. However, it wouldn’t do any good if it wasn’t for the postal carrier. Today is National Postal Worker Day, established in 1997 to honor those who sort and deliver our mail.
“Across the United States, postal workers walk an average of 4 to 8 miles carrying a full load of letters and packages, delivering them promptly to each of our doorsteps. Approximately 490,000 postal workers across the United States head out each day to our residences and businesses. Regardless of the weather, postal workers deliver all week long. Even when temperatures fluctuate from extreme heat and cold, the mail arrives. In the rain, sleet and blizzards, too, the mail gets delivered.”3
Do something nice for your postal worker today!
We all enjoy getting letters or cards and even though the price is going up – again – it’s still a pretty cheap deal. If you sent a letter from Bryan to someone living in Stryker, you sent the letter about 10 miles. If you get 30 miles per gallon in your vehicle and gas is $2.88/gallon today, it will cost you $1.92 to deliver the letter personally and come home. One stamp in July is supposed to be 78 cents so you saved $1.14!!
While preparing Vacation Bible School lessons, I found that in Paul’s three missionary journeys plus his final trip to Rome recorded in Acts, it took about nine years to cover over 10,000 miles at the cost of over 1,700 denarii. One denarii equals a days wages so the cost would have been the wages of over 4 ½ years!!!
As Paul was imprisoned in Rome, he did a lot of writing, and those letters make up some of our epistles in Scripture. In Colossians 4:15-18, Paul wrote, “Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. (16) And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. (17) And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. (18) The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.”
Imagine everyone gathering around to hear what Paul had to say. It was an exciting time to get one of those letters. Paul used this letter writing ministry under the inspiration of God to encourage and teach the believers where he had established churches.
In keeping with today, why not write your own epistle to someone – a letter of encouragement to someone who has encouraged you in your faith and helped you grow or a letter of love to someone who needs Biblical guidance. No, it won’t be inspired like the 
Bible’s epistles, but you can put inspired Scripture in your letter, counseling or encouraging someone from the Word of God.
The letter is a cheap yet extremely personal extension of your heart to theirs. Let it speak volumes today!
Consider this final passage from 2 Peter 3:1-2 as Peter concludes his messages to those who “have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
“This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: (2) That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-1/u-s-post-office-introduction-of-zip-codes
2https://facts.usps.com/fun/
3https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-postal-worker-day-july-1
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