When I was younger, my mom instilled in me a passion for reading, and that passion has continued and hopefully it will never stop. I’ll read books from almost any genre, from science-fiction to biographies, from historical fiction to mysteries, anything.
Now these books are good to just make time pass, or as a form of entertainment, but everything we do should be for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), so the books we read (especially the books I read) should be glorifying to God and for the purpose of edification. In my desire to turn my reading habits from books of entertainment to more God-honoring books, I’ve realized that those “boring” theology books, aren’t so boring. Its been said by many men to let men of the past be your teachers, and reading their books is a great way to learn, so its good to read older books, too. And of course, let’s not forget the Bible, the greatest book of all time, no book written by any man can compare to its greatness, as it is the very Word of God.
Here are some of the books I’ve recently read and am currently reading:
What Jesus Demands from the World, by John Piper
What’s the Differnece, by John Piper
Do Hard Things, by Bret and Alex Harris
The Purity Principle, by Randy Alcorn
Living the Cross Centered Life, by C.J Mahaney
The Legacy of Soveriegn Joy, by John Piper
The Hidden Smile of God, by John Piper
The Enemy Within, by Kris Lundgard
Always Ready, by Greg Bahnsen
And a few more that I can’t remember right now. These are all books that I highly recommend, most of them are new-ish, and are very helpful for growing in your walk with Christ.
The point of all this is, books can be (and usually are) more educational, more encouraging, more edifying and more confrontational than most poeple. Why then would anyone not take advantage of these amazing, God-given resources?
If the Lord wills, I will never lose my desire to read books by godly men, but especially His Holy, Infallible Scriptures. Books written by must be carefully examined, there is sometimes content which must be ignored, but God’s Word is not like the works of men, it is perfect and its content is pure.
And as a last exhortation: Never stop reading! Never!
