Reading is Fun-damental

A few years back there was a marketing plan to encourage children to read. It was called "Reading is Fun," but also continued by saying, "Reading is Fundamental." The irony, of course, was that they had to use TV commercials to get the message out that children should be reading. I guess they figured that if they put the message in a book, no one would see it.

Reading is also fundamental in the life of a Christian. I know a man who learned to read as an adult after he trusted in Christ. It was at that point that he recognized that he needed to read so that he could listen to what God had said to him in the Bible. God has communicated to us through a book, so we ought to read it.

Don't limit your reading to just the Bible. If you can only read one book, then it should be the Bible. But we live in a time when we have more material available to us than anyone could ever possibly read in one lifetime.

Consider these pieces of advice regarding reading. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, told preachers to "either read or get out of the ministry!" Albert Mohler, a leader of the Southern Baptist denomination says, "This much is certain; we will never preach more than we know and we will never preach above our reading." And John Stott informs us that, "in all this reading, our objective is not so much the accumulation of knowledge as the stimulation to think Christianly."

So please find some time to read good books, and possibly good blogs.