Make Time to Read

I am always amazed at how children raised in a given household can be so radically different. For example, in our household, myself, my wife, and my eldest daughter all love to read. In fact, by age 14, Mikayla (my eldest) had read the entire Harry Potter series, all of Lord of the Rings, Dune, most of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, and a whole host of other long books. My other two daughters, though, do not enjoy reading as much as the rest of us.

I remember being an adolescent and being consumed with books (true, there was no Youtube and we lived out of town where we had four channels to watch TV). I still do read a lot, even if my reading time is more limited than what I would like.

Obviously the most important book for any of us to continually read is the Bible. But I strongly believe every one of us should supplement reading the Bible with good books that will teach and encourage us. I doubt I need to quote statistics on how much time we spend online and watching TV, etc. And I am pretty confident that for most of us reading is about prioritizing what is important to us. Even at thirty minutes per day, most people could read two or three books in a month.

Of course it is better to supplement our reading with some discussion of those books with other people! I have a good friend, Dave, who is a fellow pastor with the North American Baptists and we will have long email discussions or phone calls where we analyze some theology text we have been reading, usually from some author we will likely disagree with. A couple books Dave challenged me to read helped me sort out some questions I had been having for a long time. Don’t be afraid to read books that challenge you!

Another way to increase your reading is by taking a class like Perspectives on the World Christian Movement (https://class.perspectives.org/FindAClass.aspx). Every week, there are selections to read from a variety of authors that expand upon and apply the concepts that are taught during the main class time. You get to read and get the discussion all rolled into one exciting and challenging spiritual experience!

Other than reading the Bible itself and prayer of course, there is no other spiritual discipline that has helped me to grow as much as reading good books on spiritual topics. Vary your reading from theology (The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard), to biography (Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret by Howard Taylor), to Bible Study (A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller), to practical application (Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges). All of these books are great places to start getting excited about reading, and I would love to discuss any of them with you.