When you buy new a computer online direction from Apple, you are given a free option. They offer you free engraving. So when I bought an ipad from Apple about a year ago, I had a problem. I was not about to let a free engraving go to waste! But what would I engrave on my new device? Just putting my name simply didn’t seem to be enough. I wanted something that reflected my approach to life. After some deliberation I finally settled on these words:
“Scott McAndless – ‘My heart is stirred by a noble theme.’”
I chose to engrave that not merely because it fit in the allotted space and didn’t include any prohibited characters. I chose it because it reflected my approach to the writing that I do – the writing that I expected to do on the ipad.
The verse is taken from the Book of Psalms (NIV version):
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
It just seemed to capture my approach to writing. I do believe that God does stir the hearts of people and stirs them particularly towards noble themes – themes of truth and beauty, hope and love. My job is to be open to those stirrings and ready to record them.
God can use anything to stir us – a sight, a sound, a passage of scripture or a moment of quiet reflection. Often the stirrings that come to me are used in my sermons or scripts or in the other things that I write. But I want to use this blog as a place to put my other stirrings – especially the brief ones that God brings to mind and that I would like to share.