There are lots of reasons why we read. Some read just to fill their heads with knowledge so that they may feel superior or appear educated. Some read just to be informed or to acquire new ideas. Reading as such is useless and vain. Readers like these are to be pitied. Good readers read to grow and to transform.
Readers should read to grow deeper and that is the reality of reading: the deeper you go the deeper the reward. Yes, reading as a pursuit in itself may satisfy at the surface level. But why stay there when we can dig deeper and find ever greater treasure? Books are necessary tools for digging deeper for knowledge where the ultimate goal is finding the treasure of truth. The primary requirement is for the reader to have a longing or a craving to reach truth and drive the shallowness away.
Inwardly we should all long to get underway into the deep. We should become weary of shallow teaching and wary of idiotic writings that give us nothing but petty ideas and watered-down messages of seeming truth. Materials like these merely destroy our imagination and halt our hunger for truth. Not everything that looks like treasure actually is, and some books could appear to have a golden sheen but are actually worthless junk.
We should keep on digging until we find the treasure of truth we deserve to obtain, because true and guided readers should not ignore the true treasure. Apostle Paul’s ultimate agenda in life was to know that true treasure which he found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:8 reads: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” No matter how deep or far the human mind may move in the dig (search) for truth nothing is gained outside the Lord Jesus Christ, because all truth is centered in Christ. In fact Jesus himself is the Truth. John 14:6 says “I am the… truth.” Unless we find Christ in everything we read there is no true treasure in our wisdom.
The heart of reading is about transformation. No matter how engrossed you are in your reading and no matter how much information you have gained, without transformation in your life the book loses its potential. A book will never manifest its power in readers until we allow it to sink its message into our inner self and allow its thoughts to freely influence us.
Not all books provide (or are a source of) transformation and we may have no special wisdom that gives us the right to anoint one book and reject another. But it has been proven that apart from the Bible itself, Christian, bible-inspired books-books that have been written by authors who have taken the time to experience Jesus Christ themselves, are dynamic, life-changing reading material. They are powerful tools that can illuminate the truth and, when properly applied, can effect transformation and growth in the knowledge of Christ our Lord. Books such as these are a must for all seekers of truth-a must for all true readers.
