Heaven's Library
By Andrea Merrell
I’ve just returned
from PENCON, a wonderful conference for editors and proofreaders. This conference
is a division of the Christian Editor Network and was held in Nashville. What a
great time of fellowship and learning.
One of the guest
speakers was Robert Hudson, author of the Christian
Writer’s Manual of Style. His keynotes and workshops were amazing, but one
statement he made stood out to me. It was about the library of heaven and all
the books that were waiting to be written.
As writers, sometimes
we struggle to come up with stories that will encourage and entertain our
readers. Many times we feel as if it’s all been said, so what could we possibly
contribute that would be fresh and new? Even the Bible says there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes
1:9 NKJV).
Think about a
classroom of children who are given the assignment to draw a certain object. It
might be their house, an animal, or the school playground. What you might
expect would at least be some similarities between the drawings, but that is
never the case. Each one shows the child’s unique way of expressing himself. As
you study each one, you see the subtle nuances—and sometimes the significant
ones—that make each drawing special.
Writing is the
same. While several of us may tell a similar story, we tell it in our own
unique way. Our words are colored by our personality, perspective, background, experiences,
beliefs, and even our likes and dislikes. In other words, there is room for all
of us as writers.
God doesn’t just
love, He is love. He not only
creates, He is creativity. Look at
the variety of beautiful landscapes and brilliant colors, not to mention
people. The good news is He has formed us in His image and placed that
creativity within us.
Consider for a moment the
library of heaven and all those books waiting to be written. One or more of
those volumes has your name on it. It’s a story that only you can tell. It may
not sit on the shelf of a bookstore or even be sold on Amazon. It might be a
poem, a devotion, a blog post, or article. Perhaps it’s a prayer or letter of
encouragement to a friend. Whether it’s an in-depth Bible study or thank-you
note, God has a purpose for whatever He puts on your heart. For everything
there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT).
John
21:25 says, There are so many other things
Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t
imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books (MSG). Most of us view the
Bible as exhaustive and thorough, but there is evidently so much more that
could have been written about Jesus.
And there is so much more for
us to write. God is waiting for each of us to do our part. Are you ready?
(Photos courtesy of Blogpiks.com and Stuart Miles.)
TWEETABLE
For more information on PENCON
or the Christian PEN, visit ChristianEditorNetwork.com.
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