I can’t overemphasize this advice especially to those of you who are young and vibrant:
Have a habit of reading spiritual books written by spiritual, educated and sensible authors.
Make a habit of sitting with a good book, not with “I will make you feel good” kind of book but “I will challenge you and make your brain hurt so you know God and His word well” kind of book.
Tell me. What do we have in this life other than the word of God? I don’t know about you but for me, I am totally convinced that I have nothing in this life except the word of God.
If you go to church and listen to everything and shout “Amen” to everything you hear, you might be very far away from reading spiritual books and very close to social media. If this is true of you, my friend, you are in the danger zone to be scammed by all sorts of heresies and don’t even realizing it.
And understanding the word of God requires digging.
Listen: “if you look for it (the word of God) as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:4-5)
Hidden treasure cannot be found easily, otherwise it wouldn’t be called “treasure.”
Two authors argue that reading a good book is actually good for our brain:
“The mind can atrophy, like the muscle, if it is not used. . . And this is a terrible penalty, for there is evidence that atrophy of the mind is a mortal disease. There seems to be no other explanation for the fact that so many busy people die so soon after retirement. . . Television, radio, (YouTube and all social media, I may add) and all the sources of amusement and information that surround us in our daily lives are. . . artificial props. They can give us the impression that our minds are active, because we are required to react to stimuli from outside. But the power of those external stimuli to keep us going is limited. They are like drugs. We grow used to them, and we continuously need more and more of them. Eventually, they have little or no effect.” (From, “How to Read a Book,” by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren, pp. 345-346 quoted in “God’s Passion for His glory” by John Piper, pp. 30)
Hmm! Makes you think, doesn’t it? Is this “mind atrophy” thing becoming epidemic these days that so many people are shouting “amen” to all sorts of heresies, a teaching that is totally out of sync with the word and truth of God?
I am not really sure. ///