The most valuable lesson I’ve learned about writing is that it’s hard work. It’s energizing and draining, something I love to do and hate to do, something that’s never done, but eventually has to be turned in. I’ve learned that what’s easy to read is hard to write, and what’s easy to write is hard to read. I’m a steward of words, and I’m accountable to God for how I arrange them. That’s the best reason for working hard at rewriting: “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). I need honest critics and careful editors. But above all I need Christ, who said, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). When you work this hard at something, you don’t want it to amount to nothing. You want it to last forever. You want to hear the Audience of One say, “Well done.” No pay-off could be bigger than that!