One of the newsletters I subscribe to is from Way of Life Literature by David Cloud at www.wayoflife.org. He recently sent out this news item that I read and found interesting:
“YOU CAN READ 200 BOOKS A YEAR – I am constantly urging God’s people in Bible-believing churches to read more. It has been said that the man who doesn’t read is no better off than the man who can’t read. To study the Bible as you should, and to be as properly educated as you should be in your Christian life and ministry, you need to do a lot of reading. Paul was a reader to the end of his life. From prison during his final incarceration, he said to Timothy, Bring … the books, but especially the parchments (2 Timothy 4:13). A recent article by Charles Chu, The Simple Truth behind Reading 200 Books a Year on https://betterhumans.coach.me/ gives the following advice:
Somebody once asked Warren Buffett about his secret to success. Buffett pointed to a stack of books and said:
“Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will. . .
In these last two years I’ve read over 400 books cover to cover. That decision to start reading was one of the most important decisions in my life. . . . Reading 200 books a year isn’t hard at all. The average American reads 200-400 words per minute. . . . Typical non-fiction books have 50,000 words. . . . 200 books [requires] 417 hours. . . . a single American spends 608 hours on social media and 1642 hours on TV. That’s 2250 hours a year on TRASH. If those hours were spent reading instead, you could be reading over 1,000 books a year! . . . If you want to read, make sure (1) you remove all distractions from your environment and (2) you make books as easy to access as possible. . . . If your goal is to read more, you can’t be picky about where you read or what mediums you use. I read paper books. I read on my phone. I listen to audiobooks. And I do these things everywhere on park benches, in buses, in the toilet. Wherever I can. Make your reading opportunistic. If you have a chance, take it. If you don’t have a chance, find one.
http://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/18-07.php (Friday Church News Notes, February 17, 2017 www.wayoflife.org)
Now, I am not a big fan of Warren Buffett. He is a huge benefactor of Planned Parenthood and will stand in front of God with the blood of many babies on his hands. However, his advice about reading is good.
One of the things I tell people all the time is to be a leader you have to be a reader! It is as simple as that. How am I going to expand my mind if I am not reading books?
I will be honest: I love to read! My parents taught me the value of reading, but I do not read 200 books a year!! That is a lot of books!
Another thing I remind people of is to keep things simple. Don’t witness to your whole city today, but start by witnessing to one person in your city. So set a simple goal of reading one book a month. You can do that. That adds up to 12 books a year. It will be the start of a great, great habit in your life.
A friend of the ministry, Pete, emailed and said that his goal this year is to read The Watchmen twelve times! He says it is the one book that just fires him up to reach the lost. Well, he has already read it four times, and he is on his way to reading it once a month for the rest of the year to encourage him to keep reaching the lost.
We read our Bibles every day because they have the words of God. Read and heed! Enjoy expanding your mind in the days to come, but make sure to take everything you read captive to the Word of God, which alone is Truth.
Until the nets are full,
