The Writer

I sit here before a blank computer screen.
The whiteness of it.
The newness of it.
The challenge to put my heart in words.
The surprise of finding HIM at every turn.

I was thinking of Charles Dickens…writer of, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist…to name a few.
It was always believed that Dickens was paid per word for his writing.
That would explain why he was so pedantic.
In actuality, Dickens was paid in installments.

All but five of Dickens’ novels were originally published in installments…over time.
Publishing monthly installments left the reader wanting more.
It also reduced the amount the reader would have to pay, since full novels were expensive.
Dickens never wrote very far ahead since he was interested in feedback from his readers.
He would often incorporate that feedback into his story in some way.

All of this intrigued me…as I sat and stared at a blank computer screen.

The mother of mathematician, Blaise Paschal once wrote…Excuse the length of this letter. I didn’t have time to make it short.

I always appreciated her sentiment.
I know how difficult it is to say all you want to say in a certain amount of words.
I pray for wisdom to do that, six days a week.
Eight hundred words (give or take a few) to say all that I feel led to say.

Two very different viewpoints: too many words vs. minimal words.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:5-8)

It seems that Jesus preferred brevity rather than pedantry.
More than the amount or words, Jesus desired a pure heart when communicating them.

That is a challenge for us.
Whether we write, or speak…we are writing and speaking His words.
We are a light that illuminates the dark path for others.
We don’t illuminate the path so the spotlight will be on us.
We illuminate the path so the spotlight will be on Him.

Any writer is simply a vessel.
A container of words.

God used forty writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to write sixty-six books of the Bible.
The Bible was written over a 1,400 year period.
These men were vessels that God’s Spirit worked through.

The Bible is not too wordy…nor is it too brief.
The Bible has the perfect amount of words to tell God’s story…the story of redemption.

It is very tender to me that Jesus is called The Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made, without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:1-5)

In Jesus, God said all He had to say.

No writer will ever come close to the perfection of the Word of God.
No writer is meant to.
If a writer knows Jesus as their Lord and Savior, their writing must always point the reader towards Him…never away from Him.
Even if the writing is not overtly Christian, it must always honor the Lord Jesus.

No pedantry…or mindless babbling.
No brevity…trying to purposely shorten the Truth…so that it will be easily accepted.
Words…Spirit inspired words…to say all He would have you say.

That is a good goal.
Not Truth in installments.
Truth in its entirety.

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

That should be our prayer.
That our words are God-breathed.
That when we open our mouth, or put pen to paper, we do so with God’s leading.
Those God-breathed words produce much fruit for the Kingdom.

Holy Spirit, breathe Your life into every word I type, or write, or speak.
May my words always point others to the Lord Jesus…the One, True Word.