I’ve done a fair amount of reading in my time. Granted, much of it has been in a fairly select field, but occasionally I branch out. Nonetheless, there has been a huge variety of authors whose works I’ve perused. But no matter what the book or topic, one thing is certain, it’s hard to have a book without an author. And just like every other avenue of life, authors tend to come in varied packages, writing with a variety of styles and covering their subjects in different manners. Some have become my personal favorites, either because of their style or their content. A few are really good. By that I mean I may read their works over again several times. Those are the authors/books that really minister to me. Their content seems timeless. Their appeal is cross-cultural. Men like A. W. Tozer, Dan Dehaan, Oswald Chambers, and some of the Puritans, for example have written “classics.” I suppose that it could be argued that beauty, or in this case, impact, is in the eyes of the beholder. There are, of course, all kinds of “other” authors. Those who have absolutely no appeal to me. Those who invigorate me. Those who rebuke me. Those who anger me. Those who are just plain boring. Whatever their stripe, authors usually hold one element in common, they have the power to influence. Simply by reading their words you can be moved into any variety of moods or actions, as indicated above. But there is one quality that none of these authors have. None of them has the power of life, or even death. The apostles used an interesting and a somewhat ironical term in referring to Jesus. They called him the “author of life.” It is ironical in the sense that Jesus never penned a word for publication, yet volumes have been written about him. It is interesting because the context in which they called Jesus the “author of life” is one in which the apostles accuse the religious leaders of being the ones who put him to death; religious men trying to kill the author of life. But that’s the value of the Word of God; it’s the only book that by reading it can bring life, eternal life. The author of life has written a living book that offers life. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” As John reminds us, reading is not enough…believing is a must!