Losing the Art

Losing the art. Of reading that is. An almost lost and dying art. It's not that some have lost the ability to read, but that they have lost the desire to read. And I don't mean read, as in reading a few funny quotes or memes, but read, as in a BOOK! Ooh! What is that you may say? You remember? Those things made of cardboard and paper that have typed print on them, that you physically lift and turn, and bookmark, and turn down

the corner of the page to save your place! A book!

With the addition of technology in our lives and screens staring us in the face everywhere we look, it's hard to take the time to sit down and read a good book. To let yourself be taken to another world through your imagination, to see characters brought to life through the print on a page. Or maybe to be encouraged, comforted or even rebuked and convicted.

I know that with all the amazing advances in technology nowadays, we have the ability to tap away at our screens and read straight from our handy little device, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing to

make use of. What I'm getting at is, that even on our screens, we seem to have such short attention spans that we can't seem to sit still and focus for long enough to read anything of any length.

When was the last time you read a book? A whole book? Not just portions of a book. Maybe even an article of more than 500 words. An interesting thing I've noticed in writing articles on our family blog, is the amount of traffic it gets or doesn't get. When I post something on a family happening with lots of photos, the crowds go wild! (my definition of more than 20 views!) But when I write anything of substance, on a Biblical topic, that you have to scroll down the page to actually get through, NADA! Zilch! Almost nothing! No interest. Now, maybe it's not interesting or well written, but I'm curious to know if people look and see a couple of pages of reading ahead and go, “Nah, I don't have the time or the patience to read that. Give me something with less than 100 words!”

I just find it sad, that so many people in our churches are disinterested in reading good, wholesome, Christian books or biographies of men and women in the past that have so much experience and insight into the Christian walk and can teach us so many things and point us to Christ and growing more like Him.

I, personally, have learnt so much over the years through reading the stories of Godly missionaries, or books written on specific topics to help me in my Christian walk. There is so much good material out there to make use of.

And what about our Bibles? We have in our hands God's instruction book for life, and yet we flounder around looking for answers, when the answers are sitting right in front of us, on our bedside table, gathering dust.

I know what you're saying, “But I don't have the time!” I know that life is busy. Our lives here in Katherine have grown so busy and I'm so tired, getting up so early, going to bed so late, that I pass myself in the hallway! But, when I think about the time I waste 'surfing' the net on my tablet as I lay in bed waiting for that perfect 'sleepy' feeling to fall upon me, I realise, that I could have better used my time, and read a book for 15 minutes instead. Something that would have helped me or just made me happy or encouraged me. Hmm. Adding up all those 15 minutes each day and maybe more throughout the day, Wow! the amount of books I could have read in that time!

I know this is a random kind of a topic I'm writing on, but I've just been thinking of it a lot lately, as I see my 'book count' dwindle and my 'quick fix reading' increase. What triggered the subject in my mind and

started the cogs turning was this verse:

1 Timothy 4:13

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

I read this verse the other day and thought, wow, in God's Word, we're told, we're commanded to read!

I know that Paul is writing to Timothy here, and instructing

him, but in 2 Timothy 3:16 we read;

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

So, I see it as an instruction to me also.

And here's another,

Revelation 1:3

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Well, if you've made it this far down the page, I'm proud of you! You have just read 846 words! I say all this to encourage you 'readers' out there to keep on, and also to remind you 'non readers' of the importance of reading. And not just any reading. Reading the Word of God, and studying it, and learning from it and using other helpful books as tools that will help guide you into truth and teach you and me both, to grow more like Christ.

Please take this gentle exhortation (and I need it too),

as a personal challenge to dedicate more time to

Godly and wholesome reading. This week, take note

of just how often you make time to read, then try and improve on it.

Isaiah 34:16a

Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read