The Pen of the Ready Writer

"I am certain that when I enter the pulpit to preach or stand at the lectern to read, it is not my word, but my tongue is the pen of a ready writer." - Martin Luther.

When I first read this quote it totally blew me away. Being a minister I can totally relate to what he was saying about God speaking through him. But that isn't what blew me away.

When you take a step back and look, how true this quote should ring out for Christians of all walks of life. When we go anywhere and do anything it should be God that people are seeing and not us. We need to take out our speech and insert God's speech. We need to take out our actions and put in actions that God would be proud of.

And how many of us as writers need to have our pens ready for God. Let's take it another step. Let's pretend that the "pen" is God's special talent that he has placed in your hands. What are you going to do with it?

You just can't expect to use it when God calls. Practice makes perfect. If you are preaching for Christ then you must study the word. If you are teaching for Christ then you must study the lesson. If you are singing or playing instruments for Christ then you must practice those songs. If you are writing for Christ then you must hone that craft as well.

God doesn't just give you a talent that will magically work when it is needed. He gives you a talent to use when the opportunity arises. But a talent wouldn't seem much like a talent if it was only used but once a year.

So I challenge all of you to be the pen of a ready writer.