Thinking of You

I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. Romans 1:8

I guess today’s text (as usual taken from the Bible League Devotional Day Planner) is most appropriate. A refresher weekend at a writer’s Conference in Edmonton this past weekend has reminded me (I’ve heard this before but forget easier than I remember) that I am thinking insufficiently about you—my readers.

If there’s a basic responsibility for a writer, it’s to make his or her (in this case my) work interesting for the readers—the greatest crime is to bore them. That’s not easy; at that point most will move on! That crime increases if readers are bored by some writer’s comment on the Gospel.

You may ask how it’s possible to bore anyone with the greatest story on the planet, but if you’ve ever fallen asleep (or wished you could) during a sermon, I‘ve made my point. If proclaiming the Gospel, either by preaching or writing, ever loses its passion, the proponent is badly in need of a refreshing.

Surely, it shouldn’t be possible to relate some part of the greatest Love Story on earth without an emotional impact. But being cerebrally inclined and devoid of much emotion, it is an ever present risk to which I succumb too often. And if passion is missing, so probably is compassion for those who read my stuff!

Our faith is always something to be excited about. While it is essential that there is substance in any Bible comment, please don’t let me get away with failing to share the thrill of discovery from God’s amazing message to us. Our God is an Awesome God!