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In the course of life, we write many words but not all of them carry the same weight. The shopping list hastily scribbled on a scrap of paper doesn’t measure up to yesterday’s diary entry for example.

But of all those words, what are the most important words you will ever write?

The Most Important 500 Words You Will Ever Write

If you are still breathing, which you are, the most important 500 words you will ever write are the next 500!

With that mindset you will always be ready to sit down and make sure they are delivered to the page. It is way too easy to rest on the laurels of yesterday’s successes, or dream of the misty day when your bestseller will finally hit the shelves.

Neither of these mindsets will lead you where you need to go.

Your value did not dry up when you declared The End on your last project. Nor will it ever be realized if all you have to say remains consigned to noble intentions and to a tomorrow that never comes.

Don’t get caught in the trap of staring at a 100,000 word mountain in your mind and never take the first step. That hill, however big it looms, will be scaled one small 500-word step at a time.

That’s why the only words you need to be concerned with right now are the only ones that matter. The next 500. And as soon as they are on the page, the baton is passed to the next 500, and so on.

Hundreds of books can be written this way. Thousands of mountains conquered, and a legacy body of creative work allowed to impact generations to come that would otherwise go to the grave with the dreamer who never took their first step.

If you believe you have a book in your heart crying to be written start pouring it own the page today.

Sometimes those 500 words will just be the warm up for the real thing. But you’ll never discover the gold without first digging the dirt. Your actions today in the dark unearth the light of your tomorrow.

To open the flow you’ll need to prime the pump with persistence and daily discipline. Set yourself to put at least 500 words down each day, even if they are just the ramblings of a tired mind. With every stroke of the pen or strike of the keys you’ll feel your creative muscles ripple.

Soon, you’ll be looking forward to the adventure of discovering what the most important words you’ve ever written are going to say, and you’ll discover them every single day.

Continuing and concluding our journey through Genesis 26 and on into the tabernacle builders of Exodus, I want to encourage you in your own creative and entrepreneurial pilgrimage.

Last time we looked at Exodus 35:10:

“Every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded”

An array of artists and artisans harnessed their gifts and in worshipful synchrony brought God’s invisible plans into plain sight.

I believe you can do the same. That God is still today calling gifts and skills into the sanctuary and sending them forth with marching orders to deliver life-changing creations to the world.

Does that mean we’ll all be household names? Hit the billboards and blitz the media? Does successfully using our gifts guarantee an abundant increase in income?

It could be all or none of the above.

The key factor is not the outcome, it’s obedience.

No outcomes are even possible without first steps of obedience being taken.

When God told Isaac to sow in the hard famished ground the outcomes were uncertain. When Israel passed through the Red Sea into an inhospitable desert the future was not crystal clear.

Each had to take their next step in faith, believing God for the increase and provision He promises to those who faithfully follow.

And as we keep taking those steps, the possibilities open up, and hitherto hidden potential is uncorked.

I cannot promise prosperity in the moment, but I can guarantee that every deposit of obedience service you render will not go unpaid. Here or in eternity there will not be one tear left unbottled, one act of grace unnoticed or unrewarded, or one decision to pour your creativity out for the King ignored.

One sows. Another waters. God gives the increase.

Sow bountifully.

Water others with prayer, praise, recognition, correction, and encouragement.

Let the One we honour with our gifts and our giving bring the rewards.

A while ago I wrote a short manifesto for creative Christian marketplace. Ministry. You can download a copy at https://www.davidleemartin.net/manifesto.

The manifesto was originally titled ‘Made To be A Maker’.

You are created in God’s image with creative DNA infused with Christ’s anointing to serve the world.

Reading today I was reminded of my Manifesto and felt impressed to share a few more thoughts to encourage your creative, entrepreneurial journey.

Sanctified Skill

The seedbed of inspiration for me is found in some of the final chapters of Exodus.

One of the most interesting portions is found in the record of building of the tabernacle. God anointed certain people to give tangibility to His designs and purposes through their artisanal skills.

Take these words from Exodus 35:10 for example:

“Every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded” (Exodus 35:10 KJV)

The wise-hearted come and make, as directed by the Lord.

Here is a directive we can all choose to take hold of.

First Come to God

“And every wise hearted among you shall come.”

Wisdom teaches us that first we come to God to hear His directions.

A person can gain the whole world and lose their own soul. How foolish would it be to become a creative success story and ultimately fall into the inevitable and abysmal end that selfishness leads to?

Your creative destiny is not about you! There’s a bigger picture at play that we are invited to enter into.

The wonderful truth is, like the artisans of old, God calls upon our current learning and skills and sanctifies them toward his habitation and purposes. He inhabits the praises of His people, and your honest service offered through the passionate and purposeful use of your gifts. The skills, expertise, and experiences you have worked to acquire can become something extraordinary when they are consecrated to God.

Your making becomes praise to the Maker.

And Make

“…and make…”

It is wise to make things, to exercise creativity, and apply yourself diligently to creative endeavors. Making is a mirror of the Maker Himself at work in and through you.

Works of service take many forms, and your unique gifts can be used by Him in powerful and profound ways.

Bezaleel and other wise-hearted artisans may not have realized how pivotal their artistic skills were. Even today there’s a danger that a handful of skills are considered sacred whilst others are frowned upon as secular.

Scriptures show however that we can be “filled with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.”

These men and women brought an array of practical skills designed to bring beauty to the world. They were not preachers or priests in the conventional sense. Yet God’s anointing came upon them and guided their hands just as much as it came upon the Levites in their realm of spiritual service.

The artist’s “making” was a powerful means of service to the King, and to His people.

The Maker’s Blueprint

“all that the LORD hath commanded”

One of the most inspiring lessons the tabernacle can teach us is that God has, and shares with His people, detailed plans.

As a Christian Creative, tuned to the voice of the Creator and the Shepherd of your soul, you too can build according to His plans. Every detail of the tabernacle was intricately communicated.

Today in Christ we are told:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV)

Consider carefully how the Master describes your life. Do you think the attention He gave to the design and implementation of the tabernacle is any less than the attention He has lavished upon preparing plans for you?

David understood this wonderful truth when he exclaimed:

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17 KJV)

God has a pathway for you to walk, a purpose for you to fulfil in Christ. It is His design and making, and the wise-hearted will seek it out so they can follow His instructions.

It may not be easy, and the noisy ambitions of the flesh will seek to drown Him out, but the still, small voice still speaks.

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”(Isaiah 30:21 KJV)

Our part as anointed artists and artisans is to listen carefully, and obey fully. It’s the wisest thing to do.

Your entrepreneurial journey will be defined by significant milestones, but it is the smaller steps between those milestones that provide the fuel to move between them. Don’t make the mistake of lofty goals that blind your eyes to the daily wonder.

As we’ve seen from our walk through Genesis 16 and Isaac’s journey to Beersheba and beyond, the pathway to purpose is one marked by many highs and lows.

If we live in the extremes, the lows will knock us out, or the highs will overshadow the everyday victories so we spend most of our time longing for something in the future rather than celebrating the moment we are presently living. Big wins become the only wins and the returns diminish, leaving you feeling like the donkey straining for an ever-increasing carrot.

Attitude Determines Altitude

Maybe you’ve heard the saying, attitude determines your altitude.

There’s truth in that saying, but it comes with a caveat. The higher you fly the thinner the air. Success comes with its own array of challenges, and unless our character has been built to breathe in a rarefied atmosphere, we could well faint and comes tumbling back down to earth.

Always reaching for bigger, better, and more is a disease of our culture. A culture that seems to have forgotten the meaning of “enough”.

Perhaps a better pause for thought would be…

Gratitude Determines Attitude

Gratitude demands we recognise not just the big wins. If that were the case our gratitude muscle would be exercised on rare occasions. A lifestyle is lived moment by moment, and being able to see God’s grace right where you are is a treasured skill that will rule your next step forward, and the one after that.

For certain, the way is not always going to be easy. You’ll be flanked by opportunities to give up. Your steps will be hampered by disappointments and questions.

Being able to exercise gratitude in those moments becomes the lens through which your destination stays in view. Jesus endured the cross because He had a joy set before Him. Daily remembering the grace you have received, and the favour you experience, will frame how you perceive the leg of the journey you are enjoying or enduring right now.

Praise and thanksgiving lift us above circumstances and afford us a long view, beyond the obstacles.

Stay thankful.

Count your blessings.

Don’t let the devil diminish your worth.

And when your milestone moments arrive, you’ll be accustomed to celebrating the big and the small alike. Gratitude well exercised will have built character enough to carry success just as much as failure. Neither will determine your identity because you know your very breath is a gift from Heaven and every step is worth celebrating.

The apostle Paul was honestly able to say that neither prosperity nor austerity moved him, that he was content to embrace them both in the tapestry of life and ministry. Can we say the same?

Milestone moments are magnificent, but they do not define you. One peak reached often reveals the next range to climb.

Our journey in God is gloriously never-ending, and there is always more to explore. Every step has a lesson to learn and opportunities to express our love for the One who brought us safe thus far.

Stepping into God’s purpose may feel like the pinnacle of the journey. Finally you’ve arrived. In reality is simply a beginning.

God’s purposes are fluid, always moving, like a wheel within a wheel they always reveal new colours and facets of His person and glory. There is never an end to the wonder of walking with Jesus.

In our entrepreneurial journey Isaac arrives after many days at Beersheba, the seventh well of the oath – perfectly aligning prosperity with purpose.

God’s voice and direction are so clear here, and worship is the only appropriate response to the goodness and generosity of God.

“And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD…”(Genesis 26:24–25 KJV)

I love the detail that follows Isaac’s altar-building:

“He pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.”

Isaac set Himself in place, but not in a palace. He understood the nature of pilgrimage and that as a steward God might move him to fresh pastures at any time. Even God’s present purpose and prosperous rewards can become stumbling blocks if we trust in them instead of the One who owns and gave them to us. He pitched His tent.

And dug another well.

Even in what seems a perfect arrangement, a favourable outcome, an over and above all we can ask or think destination, there is more to be discovered.

They dug another well.

Deep will always call to deep.

Even the deepest human diggings fail to scratch the surface of the wonders to be found in our Father’s embrace.

Even when the waters flow the call to know Him more resounds:

“Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts” (Psalm 42:7 KJV)

His purposes never end spanning the ages and reaching into eternity.

Failure is not a full stop. Nor success an exclamation point.

Your journey continues…

Keep digging.

JESUS is far bigger, far better, and a great deal more magnificently terrifyingly awesome than we can even begin to comprehend! His wonders never end.