On Reading

I am definitely not the first to say it, but reading is important.  And I mean good, deep reading.

I have been pondering ways to promote this concept with my family, my church members, my friends, acquaintances, and possibly even with complete strangers.  I haven't come up with anything substantial yet, but the thought keeps moving closer and closer to the front of my mind.  I feel the need to do something, but I am just not sure what that something is going to be.

In the meantime, just to prove that I am not alone, here is a C.H. Spurgeon quote on reading:

We will look at Paul’s books. We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them.

Even an apostle must read. Some of our very ultra-Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot and talks any quantity of nonsense is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do so, and never produce what they call a dish of dead men’s brains – oh, that is the preacher!

How rebuked they are by the apostle! He is inspired, and yet he wants books! He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he wants books! He had seen the Lord, and yet he wants books! He had had a wider experience than most men, and yet wants books!

He had been caught up into the Third Heaven and had heard things which it was unlawful for a man to utter, yet he wants books! He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books! The apostle says to Timothy, and so he says to every preacher, “Give attendance to reading” (1 Tim. 4:13).

The man who never reads will never be read. He who never quotes will never be quoted. He who will not use the thoughts of other men’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own.

Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible.

[HT: Trevin Wax]

I also ran across a blog post from Douglas Wilson.  He is talking about being a writer in this post, but his main point is Read until your brain creaks.  Here is a snippet:

Read. Read constantly. Read the kind of stuff you wish you could write. Read until your brain creaks. Tolkien said that his ideas sprang up from the leaf mold of his mind. These are the trees where the leaves come from.

Read the rest of the article here.

Well, if you have any ideas on how I could promote reading, let me know.