Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus is an author – “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…

Of course, for those of us who believe the Bible is God’s Word, we already know that Jesus is the Word, God’s love story to mankind. And that love story is the greatest story ever told. If the Bible’s best-selling book status says anything, it should suggest that at least some of us get that. The Bible is His Story.

So I shouldn’t have been surprised today when the Lord showed me how Jesus’ very life can teach me how to be a better writer, how to craft a better story.

The first thing I learned was that Jesus knew how His life would end and when it would end. A story-teller must also know how her story will end. The sooner she can figure that out, to know where her ideas are taking her, to know the end of her protagonist’s ultimate goal, the better.

Some authors prefer to just let the characters take them on a journey. I’m not trying to fault any method of discovering the story, but if we take Jesus’ life as an example, we would have to admit that knowing where we are going gives purpose to our characters. The stronger the ending, the greater the motivation to get there.

Which brings me to the next thing I discovered – Jesus’ motivation. Hebrews 12:2 goes on to say, “who for the joy set before him…

Jesus always had that joy in mind (the joy of having us be with Him in heaven) and was willing to endure more conflict than we could ever imagine to reach His goal. The goal was victory over sin and death, to save His people from their sins. The motivation was the joy set before Him, all wrapped up in everlasting love. The conflict was everything Satan could throw His way including betrayal, torture, and death.

Any story we can write will always pale in comparison to the greatest story of them all – written with the finger of God through the pages of the life of His Son.

But the Author and Finisher of our faith has given us a good model to follow – to learn the art of story from His life.