No time to Read? Think again!

I am completing a 10 month master’s program in June. At that time I will have read over 40 books for the program, each averaging 250+ pages for a total of over 10,000 pages. Now if you would have told me that before I signed up I would have laughed and said, no way! I am a slow reader, so the mountain of reading would have intimidated me. But, I am glad to say, I read it all. In fact, I read several other book as well for pleasure and personal interests.

I like to read, but this past year has made me a reader. Before I would justify that I just didn’t have the time to read much. So I would average several books a year, but would have several gaps of non-reading times. Many people when I ask, “how much do you read’ answer only a couple of books in a year. I found that true especially for men.

One of the required books by John Piper had an exhortation to pastors to be readers. He confessed he also is a slow reader, so I paid close attention. He related a secret he learned and began to practice years ago; to tackle reading don’t try to read a lot at once, instead read for short periods of time every day.

Twenty minutes a day for a slow reader will get you through 12 1/2 pages. Doesn’t sound like much, does it? But if you do so every day, six days a week you will read 3900 pages a year. That’s fifteen 250 page books! Far more than a one or two which is fairly normal.

Why read? You will grow! God gave us a mind to use to learn and grow in both knowledge and wisdom. Reading is one of the best ways to exercise your brain. You discover more about yourself, others, the world God made, and you will see the hand of God in ways you haven’t before.

Give your self a personal growth exercise and read just 20 minutes. Watch and see yourself bloom!

Jim