Why read at all? Such a question, for me, runs parallel to "Why breathe?" We read to learn, and to know. We read to know what we otherwise would not know.

For instance, if more Americans read some books on nutrition, they would not have near the risk of cancer and heart disease they do. If believers would read the Church Fathers, the Reformers, and Church history in general - well, we wouldn't have near so much gross error in our churches! But we don't learn from the knowledge available to us today, nor do we learn from history - so we continue to perish and we continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

I have had a great love for books since I was at least six years old. My mother's biology book fascinated me, and helped me advance quickly beyond Dr. Seuss. I remember in the third grade one day I was reading a book on, of all things, "ufos" - when the teacher (can't remember her name now) was suddenly standing next to me. "Billy, what do you think you're doing?" I remember thinking, "Uh-oh." She took the book and told me to come up to her desk. As I followed her, I wondered what my punishment would be.

She sat down and uttered what I'm fairly certain were the first syllables of a lecture. But then ... she stopped as she looked intently at the book. I had checked the book out of the city library, and I was now puzzled by her expression. She lowered her voice as she said, "Are you reading this?" Wondering what the deal was, I answered that yes, I was. She smiled as she handed me the book, with these words: "Don't you ever let anyone stop you from reading." I returned to my desk more confused than ever.

So, was my teacher a "ufo" cultist pleased with my choice of subject matter? No, nothing like that. Some years later, I understood how wise she had been. That book was about 250 pages long, had very small print, and used words that hadn't seen any of my spelling tests yet - it was way above my "reading level." My teacher confronted a dyed-in-the-wool reader, and she chose to encourage rather than discourage. Like I wrote above, I don't remember her name - but I remember that one sentence she spoke to me at her desk. I hope I always will.

It was a book by Dave Hunt that taught me the importance of treating Scripture alone as the absolute authority. It was a book by A.W. Pink that confirmed what I began to discover in Scripture concerning God's sovereignty. Two books, one by Martin Luther and another by Arthur Custance, answered many of the hard questions that came with such a view. Books by Andrew Murray, A.W. Tozer, Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, Jonathan Edwards, the Puritans, the Church Fathers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and others served as road signs directing me to Scripture.

Books on science revealed to me the wonders of God's creation. Books on history revealed the providential hand of God. Good fiction, recipe books, and profound poetry have made it possible to thoroughly enjoy this life that God has given to me. Great literature - whether the stories of a Tolkien or the poetry of a Donne - is the manifestation of a creativity that is truly a gift from God. Writing is more than simply extended speaking. Writing has a permanence that speaking does not, offering the limitless opportunity for review by ourselves and by those who come after. Perhaps this is why God chose to leave us the canon of Scripture in writing?

For those who do not read, it is only because you never truly have. Our modern society makes it so easy to glide through life and never read beyond the newspaper. You have no idea what you are missing! Life lacks meaning without the pursuit of knowledge - without books. Consider this - wouldn't it be great to be able to sit in a room with experts in every possible field of inquiry and ask them all of those burning questions you've so often wondered about? Of course, such is not possible for most of us - or is it?

Why read? Because if we don't, we miss out on far too much. It's just that simple. In the past, men and women risked their lives and labored much so that they could possess books - so that they could read. Today, we have so much and we are so neglectful of it all. Everything is right there at our fingertips, yet we have fooled ourselves into thinking that television and the movie theatre are a suitable replacement for reading. Check out my Essential Reading List to get started reading as a believer. It doesn't matter where you get the books - just get them. I promise you that it will change your life.

For those of you who are readers already, I quote: "Don't you ever let anyone stop you from reading."

NOTE: I higly recommend that Rick Ritchie's article, "The Well-Read Christian: Why Bible-Lovers Should Be Bibliophiles," be read.