Am I Not Worthy of My Hire? - Bruce Atchison

I often wonder why I bother with writing. It hasn't paid my bills in the past 21 years, though I tried my best to sell my articles and books. In this world, we work for our money so we can pay our bills. As Ecclesiastes 10:19 (KJV) points out, "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things."

Is not our work worthy to be purchased? As Paul wrote regarding remuneration for the servants of the Gospel in 1 Timothy 5:18 (KJV)  "For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward."

For most of us, there's more to the craft than money. Firstly, there's our love of the written word. Being able to craft a compelling story or poem is aesthetically pleasing. Even if no magazine or book compilation features what we wrote, we still can be proud of it.

We also bless others by what we've written. In my case, people have complemented me on blog posts which particularly inspired and edified them. No doubt the rest of us Christian writers have had the same experiences.

I've also found writing to be excellent therapy. My second and third memoirs didn't sell well but writing them helped my heart to heal. The pain of being sent off to a boarding school and having been lied to in a house church has largely abaited. God used those books to exorcise those painful memories from my life. Doubtless others have had the same experience.

Our writing is also a legacy to our children. In my case, my sister Linda learned much about our family life through the events I recorded about being exiled to Jericho Hill School. I'm certain that other InScribers have had the same experiences as well.

Why Be Concerned About Money? Bruce Atchison

It seems as if money is the answer to every problem in this world. Governments especially believe this. Whenever a crisis happens, their answer is to start some sort of program which we have to pay for.

Even so, money is a convenient way to exchange labour for goods. As Solomon wrote, (Ecclesiastes 10:19 KJV) "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh  merry: but money answereth all things."

It would be nice if we could exchange our writing for material goods or services but then we'd have to find something our bartering partners have that we can use. Currency makes it easier to agree on the value of our work and we can always use it to pay for something we want.

The reason I mention all this is because we shouldn't be ashamed of asking for payment for our work. Some Christians assume that money is the root of all evil. It's in fact the love of monetary gain which that is.

For me, I need to prove to my disability case worker that I'm looking for gainful employment. Being almost blind and living in a tiny rural hamlet makes it hard to find regular work. The fact that more than seventy percent of sight-impaired adults are unemployed magnifies the difficulty of finding employment which pays a decent wage.

The only skill I possess is writing. Therefore I strive to sell my books and freelance articles to whomever will buy them.

I have about five and a half years to go until I'm retired. Please pray for me that either I can stay on my pension until then or find a paying writing niche. Whatever happens, my trust is in the Lord.