A Love For Reading

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

I’m a bookworm. In fact, when I was a child, my sisters used to tease me about having ghostly pale skin despite it being summer because I spent so much time indoors, reading books.

With no real responsibilities until school began in the fall, I would often walk to the public library a few blocks from my home and return with a giant stack of books. Ignoring the whirlwind of siblings and parents around me, I worked my way through one to two novels each day. In those early days of Christian fiction, there wasn’t much to read beyond Janette Oke and Gilbert Morris, but I read everything I could get my hands on. I loved how the authors’ stories of God’s love and faithfulness—with a bit of romance mixed in—took me to previously unknown worlds.

Over the years, I’ve expanded the genres that I read, but I still feel the same sense of joy each time I pick up a book. I’ve also reread a few favorites, and one thing I’ve realized is that the aspects I focused on as a teenager weren’t the same as they are now that I’m an adult. I pay attention to previously overlooked characters and themes I didn’t pick up the first time around; I sympathize with the hardships and revel in the pursuit of redemption or joy.

Just like those other books, God’s Word is a book that lasts for a lifetime of reading and rereading. It’s full of richness and truth. It’s got drama, intrigue, romance, poetry, parables, and timeless truths that help us follow Jesus and love others well. It corrects, equips, teaches, encourages, challenges, bolsters, convicts, and confounds us. And even though I love reading fictional books, the Bible is the most influential book I’ve ever read, one that continues to reveal truths previously unknown. What a privilege it is for us to live in an era in which we have the opportunity to hold the Word of God in our hands.

Kristin

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Spend some time reading a book or listening to an audiobook, thanking God for the truths you find in it.