Thoughts on Books and Reading

I received a few books for Christmas this year, per my request, and since the summer I have had a disaster staring back at me on my bookshelf. So, over the last three days I have spent some time working on cataloging my personal library. It's a interesting task to record every book you own and somehow categorize them, so that you don't have too many categories with only a book a piece in them, or too few categories with too many books in each of them.

After finishing up today I figured out that I have approximately 250 books in my library. At a conservative 150 pages per book, that equals 37,500 pages. Now, I'm sure that I have not read half of that number yet. But I was pretty surprised to think about just how many pages I have read. I count it a gift from God that I have had the time and opportunity to read what I have. But there are two temptations that I feel I easily fall prey to as one who enjoys reading.

First, the acquisition of knowledge that puffs up. There is a type of knowledge that puffs up a person's ego and disregards other people. Paul spoke of this in 1 Corinthians 8 when he was addressing issues concerning food offered to idols and the eating of said food. The Bible nowhere gives any impression that knowledge is a bad thing or is something not worth pursuing, that is, true knowledge. But distortions of knowledge and not knowing as we ought to know, these are warned against in Scripture. Unfortunately, though, we commonly get the biblical pattern between knowledge and love wrong. Knowledge is supposed to inspire love, and love to spur on deeper and greater knowledge. If all my reading is not leading to and supporting greater love for God, his world, and his people, then there is a deficiency in my reading.

Second, the enjoyment of my books above the Good Book. I like my books...a lot. They are helpful, informative, and influential to my heart, mind, and life. But they can assume a place that is not meant for them when I spend more time with them than I do my Bible. Psalm 119 has numerous sayings that express the psalmist's love for God's word, and so should my heart sing with love for Holy Scripture. Jesus confronted the Pharisees about their love for their traditions (extra-biblical resources) at the expense of God's word in Matthew 15 (parallel passage: Mark 7). Similar to the relationship between love and knowledge, so extra-biblical resources should lead to deeper and greater love and understanding of God's word, and love for God's word should lead us to research and learn from others who have grappled with the context and content of Scripture.

From one reader to another: read often, read well, and read wisely. Let your reading lead you to love for God and others, and never let your books replace your time in God's word.