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| C. Kevin Thompson |
You see it all the time. You even hear stories about it. People sitting around tables with bated breath in some lawyer’s office. Or family members staged in a personal library in a magnificent mansion. Steely eyes focused on every other relative in the room.
Waiting. For the reading of the will.
Everybody wants to know the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: What am I going to get? Usually, in these scenarios, we get a real, clear picture of the human condition under the spell known as greed. Very few people ever walk out of those little family get-togethers in, shall we say, their right minds. And the higher the stakes, the less “right” people’s minds become.
Aaron and the rest of the Levites were a unique tribe amongst the Israelites. God, speaking to Aaron, said, “You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them” (Numbers 18:20a). The Levites already had to rely on sacrifices for food. They were not allowed to work for money. Their funds came from the Atonement Tax. So, this “no inheritance in their land” business seems pretty harsh, if you don’t read the rest of the verse: “I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites” (Numbers 18:20b).
God was to be Aaron’s inheritance. He was to be the Levites’ inheritance, too.
Wow.
That beats an Italian villa on Lake Como, a Ferrari, or a million-dollar stock portfolio any day.
Or does it?
This is what Peter was talking about 1 Peter 2:4-12. We, as New Testament believers in Jesus, are being developed into the new, spiritual priesthood, “offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). We are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Pet. 2:9). This was all Old Testament language used to describe the Israelites, more specifically, the Levites. Now, it is being used in the New Covenant to describe us.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Pet. 2:10). Therefore, as a result of this promise,
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Pet. 2:11-12), This is how God wanted the Israelites to live: “Be holy as I am holy” (Lev. 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7). Now, the admonition is the same for us.
God is to be our inheritance. We live as aliens. We are strangers in a foreign land. We are enemy combatants in a world that not only embraces sin, it elevates it to a deified status and challenges anyone who dares to call sin out for what it really is.
As a writer, ask yourself this question: Is God enough? If your books never sell another copy, if your publisher and/or agent drops you like a bad habit, would the inheritance of God be enough for you? Or would you cry out like the Israelites? “I want to go back to Egypt!”
“Oh, Kevin, that would never happen to me.” Okay, so what about booksellers, like Amazon, banning your books because of their inflammatory Christian message? Or social media outlets preventing Christians from advertising their books any longer via algorithms other folks have access to freely? Now, is God enough?
If you’ve never been published yet, could you live victoriously, never reaching that milestone in your current road of life? Would you see this situation as a stepping stone to deepen your relationship with God, or would it become a stumbling block, leading you to the “dark side”?
I know we all love to write. We love the creative aspect inside of us. We even see the Creator in us as we put words on the page. For creation was His idea, after all. However, do not allow the ways of this world to infiltrate your thought processes. Yes, we have to advertise, but do not allow greed for fortune and fame overtake you. Yes, it’s nice when we receive those checks for books sold, but don’t fall prey to glorifying your efforts, or the efforts of others who assist you, at the expense of glorifying God first and foremost. I often wonder if we, as writers, will one day have to toss our books at the feet of Jesus and ask forgiveness for thinking we actually had a hand in causing any success we achieved. God gave us our abilities, correct? God gave us the ideas, yes? God guided us as we put our hands to the keyboard, right? What part did we play, other than to be a willing vessel?
“Is God enough?” If He truly is, then all our praise for “bookish things” endeavored and accomplished will be directed to Him, for Him, about Him, and through Him.
If you’ve never been published yet, could you live victoriously, never reaching that milestone in your current road of life? #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @CKevinThompson
As a writer, ask yourself this question: Is God enough? #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @CKevinThompson
What beats an Italian villa on Lake Como, a Ferrari, or a million-dollar stock portfolio any day? #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @CKevinThompson
30 Days Hath Revenge
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| 30 Days Hath Revenge |
A Clandestine Mission.
A Cryptic Message.
A Chaste Promise.
Blake Meyer dreamed of a peaceful end to a dutiful career with the FBI. Married now, his life was taking him in a new direction—a desk job. He would be an analyst. Ride it out until retirement. Be safe so he could enjoy his grandchildren someday.
But when a notable member of the IRA is murdered in a London flat, Blake’s secretive past propels him into the middle of a vindictive, international scheme so hellish and horrific, it will take everything Blake possesses—all of it—to save the United States from the most diabolical terrorist attack to date.
C. KEVIN THOMPSON is a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a kid at heart. Often referred to as “crazy” by his grandchildren, it’s only because he is. He’s a writer. Need he say more?
The first four books of his Blake Meyer Thriller series are out! Book 1, 30 Days Hath Revenge, Book 2, Triple Time, Book 3, The Tide of Times, and Book 4, When the Clock Strikes Fourteen, are now available!! Also, the second edition of his award-winning debut novel, The Serpent’s Grasp, is also now available!
Kevin is a huge fan of the TV series 24, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, NCIS, Criminal Minds, BBC shows Broadchurch, Shetland, Hinterland, and Wallander, loves anything to do with Star Trek, and is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, too. But you will never catch him wearing a deerstalker. Ever.
Website: www.ckevinthompson.com/
Kevin’s Writer’s Blog: www.ckevinthompson.blogspot.com/
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