RevWrites- Feb 21

Reading. How much do you read? Some people read little. Some only read the TV guide. Others read more. I heard this week about one of our JGs Junior Leaders who’s read all the Harry Potter books twelve times! I think we see both ends of the spectrum here.

But reading is important. It’s important because God speaks. He speaks words and some of those words have been written down for us. He expects his people to read.

I’m not just talking about reading the Bible. I want to talk about reading in general. If you read little can I encourage you to read more?

Books are divided into two types – fiction and non-fiction. You can tell from the names of the two types that fiction is primary. If you don’t read any fiction let me encourage you. Reading fiction is very powerful. It lets you into another world (or another person’s head) without actually paying the airfare to get there.

Reading widely develops not only our imagination but also our appreciation of people in all their diversity and complexity. This helps us relate to other people. And God built us for relationships.

Some of us need encouragement to read fiction. I didn’t start reading fiction until I was in my 30s. And even then only because friends encouraged me. Regularly reading fiction is good for us.

Some people read only fiction. Of course, reading fiction is better than not reading at all. But much non-fiction is very helpful. Many books have been written to help us in our relationship with God and his people. Any of the ministry staff will be able to help you choose helpful books to read.

But what if you hardly read much at all? This is not so much a problem for young people but older people. A large proportion of older people hardly read at all.

If you’re in this group then starting to read more is a bit like starting to exercise. Start small! In the non-fiction department might I suggest starting with The Briefing.

The Briefing is a monthly magazine produced by Matthias Media. There’s letters and articles about all sort of helpful Christian stuff and a Bible study guide at the end. I read it monthly because it stirs me up about things. You can check it out and subscribe at http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/

Can I encourage you to read? I might be wrong, but it seems common sense that people who hardly read at all will find Bible reading much harder and maybe even comprehending the Bible much harder.

Reading more widely will do the good things I suggested above but also build better Bible reading skills. God has spoken. It’s a great idea to read what he has said and to read it well.

Neil