By Brian Prince
"When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also, bring my books, and especially my papers" 2 Timothy 4:13
I found this Scripture quite telling that while under house arrest, among the many possibilities of what Paul could requisition, he settled for his coat and his books (scrolls and parchments). This gives us a peek into the type of person Paul was. It seems to me that he had quite an appreciation for knowledge. It is no wonder he could hold his own against the best thinkers of the day at Athens at a time when philosophy ruled and Christianity was considered a sect!
Naturally then, my attention was drawn to Daniel who being in slavery, the Bible said, “he understood by the books’ about the duration and therefore the end of their slavery in Babylon. The books here are the writings of prophet Jeremiah and the company. It seems to me that books have been very instrumental in the story of the Bible and it is of great benefit to,
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
The Logos
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
This is a very familiar text and we know the ‘Word’ is translated from the greek ‘logos’.Without going too much into the study of ‘Word’, suffice it to say, it is from the word logos that we get logic. So with that in mind, then we get a better appreciation of what John was saying especially with the understanding that his gospel was written much later after the other gospels had been written. It seems like he wanted to make it very clear to the culture of the time that Jesus was the center of all the truth. That while the culture was obsessed with trying to answer life’s ultimate questions purely by human logic, John was giving them the answer based on the truth. That at the end of their search they would find that Jesus was the logos. Paul puts it this way,
"All things were created through Him and for Him.He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together."Colossians 1:16-17
So then if Jesus is the center of all knowledge then those with access to Jesus are privileged with a unique vantage point.
And so I found it such a privilege that the Lord would entrust us as authors with the responsibility to elucidate his truth to a generation in search of it and where there all manner of sources – some of which are not the truth but just have a resemblance of the truth. In the information age, access to information is not as big a problem as previous years but the bigger problem now is ‘sorting the information’ – knowing what is quality information.
Anyone can blog; anyone can vlog; anyone can present their opinion and hence it is easy to lead people astray with facts that are strung together in a compelling way that the innocent mind cannot see the incorrectness of the conclusions. This is why as authors, writers, and purveyors of the logos we must also take our role as gatekeepers even more seriously. We all have an audience (whether big or small). We must take Paul’s advice to Timothy and speak well thought out truths.
Book As a Spiritual Form
Have you noticed on several occasions the Bible references a book being opened in heaven? We know heaven is a realm that is not governed by time, so if there are books in heaven, then books might just be a transcended reality. In fact, on several occasions, God has commanded His prophets to write; Moses, Habakkuk, Luke (through Theophilus) among others. And when Jesus was on earth He kept referencing the writings of the prophets who lived before; Moses, Isaiah, David among others.
Hebrews 11 talks of “everything that is, was created from the unseen.” Ideas and innovations, art pieces, music, books, etc exist in the spirit realm before they can be brought to the physical realm. Maybe this is why many authors think of the process of writing a book as “birthing” or “downloading” and so on.
In conclusion
If Jesus is the truth, and God wants the truth to be shared to all and has given a transcendent format in the name of books to use, it behooves us to do this masterfully, appreciating the full impact of it to humanity.
You never really know what impact your book might have in a few years or generations. Paul had no idea his letters would end up in the Bible when he was writing them. The original Martin Luther had no idea that his theses that he nailed on the doors of the temple would cause a worldwide reformation. In the same manner, you can never really know today what impact your book will have on nations and humanity. This is why you have to keep writing that book; publish it well and in all excellence; keep distributing it in all avenues God will allow you. You never know!
"Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God" Hebrews 10:7
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR – BRIAN PRINCE
Brian Prince is a Trainer, Writer, and Director at Truelife Entertainment. He is passionate about helping people win by telling their stories properly and by leveraging their unique gift mixes.
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