Monday Motivation: There’s a Message in Your Book, So Make it Count

There’s a message packed into every book. You might think that your story is just a fun little piece of nonsense. Or that you have nothing of value to say.

Wrong. Besides the story itself, every book tells us something, such as “Good triumphs over evil” or “Forgiveness stops bitterness” or “Don’t take your cat swimming with you if you don’t want your arms and belly fileted by sharp claws.”

The message is the theme of the book.

Too many stories try to get us to buy into beliefs that simply aren’t true.

Here’s one—if you dream hard enough, all your wishes will come true.

No. The truth is that doesn’t always happen. I can dream it, wish it, want it, practice it, and work at it all I want, but I will never become a six-foot-ten-inch power forward in the NBA.

For one thing, no amount of studying is going to make me grow another ten inches. Even the Bible says so. Matthew 6:27 says, “Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying?” (HCSB)

Also, when I was in junior high school, I practiced basketball for HOURS. I worked HARD. I still couldn’t dribble in a straight line, run fast, or shoot the ball through the hoop with any consistency. Basketball wasn’t one of my gifts.

Telling stories is. So all those books with the theme of “Believe it and it will come true” left me with the wrong message. They didn’t help.

Books filled with the right message can inspire and help thousands, maybe even millions of readers. Your books can do that.

One of the greatest storytellers of all time was Jesus. When he walked the earth, he told parables—which are stories with a message. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record almost forty separate stories that Jesus told.

Why stories?

Stories grab our attention, keep us awake, and keep us interested. We remember stories better than memorizing lists, dates, and concepts. Stories work their way inside our hearts. We feel them when they make us laugh or cry or challenge us to do better.

The Bible tells us of Jesus’ preaching in Mark 4:33-34, “He would speak the word to them with many parables (stories) like these, as they were able to understand. And He did not speak to them without a parable.” (HCSB)

Inside those stories, Jesus really was giving us tons of great messages: what heaven is like; what happens when people search for Him; the power of faith and prayer; how evil is punished; what happens when you plant His Word in others; how the Father will welcome home the kid who ran off on his own and realized he made the biggest mistake of his life; and other great stories that teach us, train us, and prepare us for everlasting life.  

Telling stories is powerful and important. As Christian authors, let’s make sure the messages in our stories always point to Jesus. We’re going to tell our readers something. Let the messages our books be shining lights of hope instead of dips into darkness.