Reading - #2

Continued from earlier post:

4. Reading Conquers the Confines of Time

If a man does not read he limits his mind to think only on the concepts and ideas of his generation. Therefore his boundaries of available thought are perhaps forty to seventy years. However if a man reads widely, he avails himself of the thoughts and concepts of men and women of multiplied generations. His boundaries of thought are therefore hundreds and thousands of years.

Descartes, a French philosopher of the 17th century, said "The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries."

In addition to this, by choosing to expand the historical breadth of reading material, a person is kept from any flawed concepts that may be prevalent in their generation.

5. Reading is the Habit of Effective People

When studying the lives of highly effective people, reading appears to be the reoccurring habit that links them all.

The Apostle Paul was a reader. In 2 Timothy 4:13 Paul asks a favor of Timothy, “Please bring with you…the books…”. Under house arrest and in the latter stages of his life, Paul’s desire was for a good book!

William Tyndale, Protestant reformer, scholar and Bible translator of the 16th Century, made a similar request during his imprisonment in the few months before his martyrdom in 1536. In a letter to the governor-in-chief, he entreated him to "kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend time with that in study.”

John Wesley was so passionate about reading that he did most of it on horseback, regularly riding fifty to ninety miles per day. He habitually traveled with volumes of science, history or medicine propped on his saddle. His method proved effective, helping Wesley to get through thousands of volumes. Wesley is quoted as regularly advising younger ministers either to read or get out of the ministry!

Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, typically read six books per week.

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church (one of America’s largest churches) is quoted as reading a book a day.

Hundreds more examples could be given of successful people who highly value the habit of reading. If it’s good enough for the Apostle Paul, Tyndale, Wesley, Spurgeon and Warren, it’s good enough for Bell!

6. Reading Increases the Income of Ideas

J. Oswald Sanders writes, "Ideally a book is a channel through which ideas can flow from one mind to another."

I cannot expect to call upon a plenitude of good ideas if I have not invested good ideas into my mind.

Ravi Zacharias states this point superbly: "An expenditure of words without the income of ideas leads to conceptual bankruptcy."