THE BLESSING OF BOOKS - Some Thoughts on Books and Reading
By Ronald Nugent
II. How Should We Read?
Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones, possibly the greatest preacher in the English language in the Twentieth Century, once observed, “Most great men of God have been great readers.” But while most great men of God have been great readers, not all great readers have been great men (or women) of God. Reading can help but it can also hinder our spiritual growth. It can be a means of grace but it can also be means of escape; escape from reality, escape from responsibility, even escape from God. If we want our reading to benefit ourselves and others, we must be careful how and what we read. In this second article in my series on books and reading we will look at how we should read and in the next we will look at what we should read. How, then, should we read?
First, read selectively. Even if we could read everything, we should not. We are to be good stewards of our time and money, and much reading material is a sheer waste of both. I sometimes wonder how much fruit I have harvested from the hours I have invested in reading newspapers. A.W. Tozer once noted that the best advice he had ever received on reading was, “Always read your daily newspaper standing up.” Henry David Thoreau also had a low view of newspapers. When asked if he would like to have a newspaper delivered to his cottage he replied, “No, I have already seen a newspaper.”
While some reading is wasteful of our time, other reading can be harmful to our soul. Jesus warned us, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). We could paraphrase His words: “Beware of false teachings which come to you in books with attractive covers, but within is deadly poison.” In choosing what to read, do not be guided by bookshop promotions, which are often influenced more by publisher discounts and market demands than spiritual value. Seek the counsel of mature Christians and godly pastors. Ask those who have read widely and deeply over the years, what books have most helped them.
Secondly, read thoughtfully. Read to get wisdom as well as information. Information gives us knowledge of facts but wisdom gives us knowledge of God. Beware of the encyclopaedia type of mind. To quote again from A.W. Tozer: “The mind should be an eye to see with, rather than a bin to store facts in.” Read slowly and deeply. I confess that I am no great fan of speed reading courses. When I was a small boy, my mother taught me to chew my food before I swallowed it and I find that reading at speed does not allow me to chew over what I have read. Some books can be read quickly, but good books, the only books worth reading, should be read thoughtfully.
Here is a great advantage of reading over listening. What is heard soon passes out of our mind, but what is read can be thought upon and read again. Books can be read in our own time and at our own pace. They can be pondered and discussed and debated. I find that for the purposes of learning and thinking, books are better than tapes or disks of sermons. And, of course, some books are better than others. The best books do not do our thinking for us, but stimulate us to think for ourselves. Knowledge is digested by thinking.
Thirdly, read critically. The Apostle Paul counselled the Thessalonians, “Test all things; hold fast to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). To read critically mean to test all that we read by the rule of God’s Word, the Bible. Even the best teachers sometimes fall into error; only the Bible is infallible. We should pray for the spirit of the Jews of Berea, who “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were” (Acts 17:11). I think it was John Wesley who said that he was a man of one book, by which he meant, of course, the Bible. Well, all Christians should be people of one book, not in the sense that we read only the Bible, but in the sense that we read all other books in the light of the Bible.
However, if we are to read all things in the light of the Bible, then we must know the Bible and know it well. As A.W. Tozer has truly said, “Every Christian should master the Bible, or at least spend hours and days and years trying.” Many good programs have been compiled to assist us in reading the Bible. I especially recommend M’Cheyne’s Calendar of Daily Readings (published by the Banner of Truth Trust) and Table Talk (published by Ligonier Ministries). M’Cheyne’s Calendar is a schedule for reading the whole Bible in one year and can be purchased from any good Christian bookstore. Table Talk is a monthly magazine of daily Bible readings and notes, as well as useful articles on biblical topics, and can be ordered online at www.ligonier.org.
Our appetite for other books should never be stronger than our appetite for God’s Word. As the Puritan preacher Thomas Manton expressed it, “The Spirit of God rides most triumphantly in His own chariot.” However, there are many books which help us to understand, appreciate and apply the teachings of the Bible. For example, commentaries help us to understand the Bible and biographies show us how it can be applied in real life. So read widely, but read with your Bible close at hand.
Fourthly, read regularly. Living as we do in an age that is running out of time, we do well to set aside time to read. Some like to read in the morning because they find that they drop off to sleep in the evening. Personally, I find the evening the best time to read. In the morning a thousand and one things clamour for my attention but in the evening I am relaxed and in a mood to meditate. There are few things I enjoy more than to spend an evening curled up on the sofa with a good book. An hour spent reading and reflecting on Stephen Charnock’s The Existence and Attributes of God or J.I. Packer’s Knowing God is better for my soul than hour spent looking at “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” or “Survivor Vanuatu”.
Reading is a good way to spend a Lord’s Day afternoon. God, in His goodness, has given us a day each week in which we put aside our work and spend time with Him. The Lord’s Day is not another Saturday in which we catch up on our homework or our housework, but a day for communing with God and refreshing our spirits. A good book can rebuke our sin and prompt us to repent and seek God afresh; it can warm our hearts and move us to turn aside to worship and to pray; it can fire our imaginations and stir us to serve God with renewed zeal and joy.
Fifthly, read prayerfully. One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received about reading was given to me when I was a very young Christian. My pastor told me that He frequently prayed for God to direct him to those books which would be most useful for his spiritual growth. Over the years I have often followed his advice and I have often found that God leads me to just the book I need; picking me up when I am down, calling me back when I stray, or showing me the right way when I am confused. We cannot hope to read more than a small fraction of even the good Christian books that are now available, so we need God’s wisdom in choosing what to read.
I suggest that can be useful to pray before we read, while we are reading, and after we have read. The human mind is an awesome work of God, but it is filled with darkness until God sheds His light abroad in our hearts. So it is good to pray before we read, asking God to enlighten our minds and give us understanding and discernment. We live in an age in which false prophets and false teachers abound, and their falsehoods can be found even on the shelves of Christian bookstores. So it is good to pray while we are reading, asking God to enable us to discern truth from error. Most of us forget most of what we have read as soon as we have put the book down, and the little we do remember is usually lost over time. So it is good to pray after we have read, asking the Lord to help us retain what is good so that our lives will be lived for His glory.
“Lord God, You have made me to live for Your glory. Grant that even in my reading I will glorify You. Before I read, guide me to the right books so that I will not wander into the way of error but walk in the path of truth. As I read, feed me with Your truth so that I will not pollute my mind with junk food but will nourish my soul with sound teaching. And after I have finished reading, help me to live according Your truth so that I will not be a reader only but a doer also of Your Word. Amen.”
Copyright 2001, 2004 by R.G. Nugent.