The Most Important Book

            Over the years I have bought, read, and shelved thousands of books.  I don’t have any idea how much money I have spent on books. Quite frankly, more than I have spent on golf and fishing combined would be my estimate.  My wife has reminded me that libraries will allow you to borrow books, and my response is always that they expect you to return them. 

            My mother instilled a love for reading in me when she took me to the library every week when I was in elementary school. And to continue to learn and remain fresh in my ministry, I have felt it necessary to buy and read more books.

            But, in recent years I have come to realize that I will never again read many of these books. And so I have started the process of purging my library. I gave several hundred to the Guido Bible Institute in Metter back when I was teaching there. And I have allowed a number of younger pastors to come and take some as well.

            I do have some built-in shelves at the house where I plan to keep a number of my commentaries and other books that I will want to have in retirement. But it is my hope that I can give many of them away prior to that.

            The problem is that many younger pastors don’t buy books anymore. It is not that they do not read. Rather, they purchase entire libraries that they install on their computers. Or, they buy books for their Kindles.  Evidently it is more economical and takes up far less space than my physical books. 

            For me, nothing can replace an actual book in my hand. Something I can mark in, make notes in the margin, and underline.  That’s just one more piece of evidence that I am, in some ways, a dinosaur. Yes, I still read both a daily and weekly newspaper from cover to cover too. And I like it that way.

            Books matter. Continued learning matters. But it is THE book, that is the Bible, that matters the most. As I read the many books on my shelf, I also read the Bible in its entirety every year. Been doing so since 1976.  And it seems I learn something new on a regular basis. God’s Word still speaks. I pray that you will read it and hear what it says.