Though a physician (Col. 4:14) Luke is one good Christian writer I’ve had to look upon again and again. Reading only a few lines of his first book, The Gospel According to Luke, provided me enough guide for my writing ministry.

I, hereby, itemise lessons I learnt reading through the first four verses of Luke Chapter 1.

Lesson 1: He knew that no matter how good his writing would turn out to be, his could not stand aloof of others.

“Several biographies of Christ have already been written…,” he says in Luke 1:1 of the Living Bible edition.

It is good to acknowledge, (it actually makes you humble) that someone’s writing, action or idea sparked your inspiration to write. Nobody receives inspirations from the blues.

Your idea is just a follow-up or a modified version of an existing idea. Just as you got inspired from reading others, another will be inspired to write from reading yours.

Hence, we have a chain or network of inspirations. Your writing must have either a forward or backward connection. It cannot stand aloof.

Lesson 2: Luke wrote only after he had carried out a thorough research concerning his writing. He was not going to write for the sake of mere writing, ignorant of his subject matter.

He says, “However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all those accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you, …”

Since what is written has the tendency to stay written over the ages, whatever must be written, must, therefore, be accurate and must be the truth.

Why misinform your readers? Why the haste to publish? Why avoid the necessary checks and rechecks? Don’t you really think it would be well to check and probably have others crosscheck your facts and ideas before pushing them out in writing?

Lesson 3: Every written piece must have an objective, a focus, and a purpose. Luke picked up his pen because he wanted to reassure his reader, Theophilus (Acts 1:1), of the truth he was taught.

Do I write simply to meet a deadline, even though void of inspiration? Why write when I do not have an audience in mind or the need of this audience? What is my intension for writing and sending this post?

It gets more interesting!

Knowing he had just a reader in mind, Luke still gave it all his best. He didn’t know that his personal journal to a friend would end up in the public domain, and that through generations, men all over would read and would still be reading his book.

So, what if he had been careless? What if he had taken things so lightly? What if he ignored the fact that whatever is written has the capacity to travel farther and to live longer than the writer?

Since I am, therefore, called to write, I must write right, obeying all writing rites. I must give my writing a deep thought, for while I am gone, my work should still be speaking. I guess we share the same mind on this!

Anyway, it’s so good looking at Luke together with you . . .

“Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eye-witnesses. However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all those accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you, to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

Luke 1:1-4 (Living Bible)

Burning Bush Boy (Moses Ayodeji Solanke) an Asst. Editor-in-Chief with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN); a Gospel Writing Minister - www.theburningbushboy.wordpress.com. He has great passion for enhancing the Christendom with media tools. He is married with three children. Email:[email protected]