Thoughts for today

My devotions today focused on Job 2. It is an interesting story where Satan and God were talking about Job and how strong his faith was. God’s pride and trust in Job is inspiring! There is a verse where Job is covered in boils. His wife asks him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die.” Or in other words just take the easy way out. If you don't know the story, Job holds strong and in the end is rewarded by God.

I started thinking about how to apply this verse to my life. I was reminded of my quest to write novels. I didn’t start writing with the goal and purpose to show others Christ and his never ending love. Nope, I started with a dream I had one night and the dream had nothing to do with Christ. I decided to turn my dream into a book and was just getting it (The One) started, when I realized I had to make a choice: Include God in my book or not. I had studied the market enough to know that a non-Christian book is easier to sell and it is so much easier to find an agent without the Christian tag stuck on it. In short, there are more non-Christian agents, readers and publishing houses, making it more difficult for Christian writers. I was torn between writing from my Christ indwelled heart, or my head. I prayed and talked to friends and in the end I realized that I am a Christian and Christ is a part of me. I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t write a book just to write, I couldn’t remove Christ and his love from my books any more than I could type without my hands. There are others who can do it and do it well, without feeling like they had compromised. For me it just didn't feel right.

I want to be a Christian author who will stand before others and say, “I am holding onto my integrity. I am an author of books with the purpose of spreading God’s love and healing.”

Has there been a time in your life where the thought giving up your integrity was alluring? What choice did you make? Would you make that same choice again knowing the outcome?

Blessings

Andrea