I just came back from attending the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in Dallas, Texas.
I had a wonderful time, soaking in the information provided in the classes, meeting new authors, talking to agents (who seemed interested enough in my latest manuscript to request a proposal!), and exchanging business cards.
Author Talk
One of the topics that frequently come up as authors talk is the plot of our novels. We refer to the books as a "product."
Indeed it is.
A product.
An intellectual property.
It occurred to me that we think of our product as "ours."
Seems logical.
The plot, the characters, the theme, the concept, the scenes and dialogues all come from our minds.
So, yes, it's our product.
Then I thought, but I belong to God.
Not only am I His creation, but I have become His disciple, His bondservant.
That must mean that everything that I produce is not mine, but His.
His.
Mine, Mine, Mine!
Many times we authors pray that God will help us find an agent, or publisher for "our" product.
But it's not ours. (If we are truly His).
It's His.
To do with whatever He determines, for whomever He wishes to read it, to accomplish what He decides.
He may never lead me to a publisher.
He may have already determined that the very exercise of writing this particular manuscript, and all the activities surrounding it: the praying, the lifting up the theme, submitting to God's leading, the talking about the manuscript, the research, the Bible study to assure myself that I am in alignment with His Word, the resting in Him as I wait for an answer from a publisher...all this is for the purpose of purifying me, making me more like the Master, growing me in faith, in hope, in trust, in obedience.
My product becomes God's way of shaping and molding me into the image He delights in.
More that my book...
I.
I am God's product.
Are you God's product?
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10 NIV Bible)
I had a wonderful time, soaking in the information provided in the classes, meeting new authors, talking to agents (who seemed interested enough in my latest manuscript to request a proposal!), and exchanging business cards.
Author Talk
One of the topics that frequently come up as authors talk is the plot of our novels. We refer to the books as a "product."
Indeed it is.
A product.
An intellectual property.
It occurred to me that we think of our product as "ours."
Seems logical.
The plot, the characters, the theme, the concept, the scenes and dialogues all come from our minds.
So, yes, it's our product.
Then I thought, but I belong to God.
Not only am I His creation, but I have become His disciple, His bondservant.
That must mean that everything that I produce is not mine, but His.
His.
Mine, Mine, Mine!
Many times we authors pray that God will help us find an agent, or publisher for "our" product.
But it's not ours. (If we are truly His).
It's His.
To do with whatever He determines, for whomever He wishes to read it, to accomplish what He decides.
He may never lead me to a publisher.
He may have already determined that the very exercise of writing this particular manuscript, and all the activities surrounding it: the praying, the lifting up the theme, submitting to God's leading, the talking about the manuscript, the research, the Bible study to assure myself that I am in alignment with His Word, the resting in Him as I wait for an answer from a publisher...all this is for the purpose of purifying me, making me more like the Master, growing me in faith, in hope, in trust, in obedience.
My product becomes God's way of shaping and molding me into the image He delights in.
More that my book...
I.
I am God's product.
Are you God's product?
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10 NIV Bible)
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