Prescription for Reading: Read. Extract. Apply. Do.

The ability to read is greatly underrated. It’s like receiving a gift that continues to keep giving. It’s like being entrusted with a key that opens an infinite number of treasures. As a boy I became an avid reader, taking me on adventures with teen inventor Tom Swift, solving mysteries with the Hardy Boys, traveling to distant lands through books like Treasure Island, Hans Brinker and Ivanhoe, and enjoying sports exploits with the likes of Chip Hilton and Mel Martin. 

I also devoured books about American history, nature, science fiction, mystery, and a host of other topics. My younger days would have been impoverished without being able to read and learn about so many intriguing topics. For this reason, I believe literacy should receive paramount attention in our society. Gaining the capacity to read can provide a pathway out of poverty and into prosperity.

However, the power of reading involves more than being able to recognize letters, words and even comprehend sentences. Because we can read many things but if we don’t put into use the information we acquire, we’ve gained little. 

 

Recently during a discussion a friend suggested an acronym that illustrates this point. It’s READ: Read. Extract. Apply. Do. He explained that when we read something, we should seek not only to recognize words and meanings, or even for intellectual understanding, but also for application – striving to put what we have read into action.

 

For instance, when we buy a new kitchen appliance it comes with directions for use. We might read them, but if we don’t follow what they say we should do, we could damage the product – or worse. When we rented a cabin to attend a family function, the owners had left a list of instructions we needed to take care of before we left. Reading the list would have been of no use if we hadn’t followed up on what it said.

 

We could cite many other examples, but the wisdom of ‘Read – Extract – Apply – Do’ is particularly vital as we read the Scriptures. In fact, the apostle James gave this admonition to followers of Jesus as he taught how they should conduct their everyday lives: 

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

 

While He never used the READ acronym, Jesus Christ was clearly a strong advocate of it in principle. He found it particularly applicable for responding to accusations leveled at him by the Pharisees, Sadducees and other religious leaders who opposed His ministry. On numerous occasions He would chide His hearers, “Have you not read…?” 

 

For instance, in rebuking the Pharisees for complaining when they saw His hungry disciples picking heads of grain on the Sabbath day, He said, “‘Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.’ Then He said, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath’” (Luke 6:3-5). 

 

Another time the Pharisees were challenging Jesus on His views about divorce. He responded, “Haven’t you read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” (Matthew 19:4).

 

One day the Sadducees, another group of religious leaders, were attempting to trick Jesus with a question about people being resurrected of the dead. Jesus replied, “…have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:26).

 

And speaking to the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders who confronted him about His teachings, Jesus gave a parable about a vineyard owner and then concluded, “Haven’t you read this scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (Mark 12:10).

 

In each instance, Jesus knew the religious had literally read the words from the scrolls that were so fastidiously stored in the synagogues and temples. They had read what the Scriptures said, and perhaps even worked to extract their meaning. Their fault came in failure to properly apply and put into action what they were saying.

 

The same can be said for us today. It’s said that while many homes across the United States have at least one copy of the Bible, only about nine percent of professing Christians actually read the Bible on a regular basis. As for how many of those are diligent to apply and do what they read, we can only assume it’s less than nine percent.

 

The Scriptures assure us that salvation – receiving God’s forgiveness for our sins and being assured of eternal life – is solely a gift of His grace and mercy. At the same time, we’re instructed to live out what we read in God’s Word. As the apostle Paul urged believers in ancient Philippi, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). In other words, as James the apostle said, don’t just read and listen to the Word of God. Do what it says to do!

What We Miss by Not Reading Books

One reason I’m a writer, I suppose, is because I grew up an avid, even voracious reader. When you read a lot, you can’t help but learn how words, sentences and paragraphs properly go together.

 

I vividly remember one day when my mom kept me out of school because I had a bad cold. I stayed in bed all day but wasn’t too sick to read. I had borrowed the book, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, from the library and read it cover to cover that day. I’ve never succeeded at ice skating, but vicariously enjoyed it through young Brinker’s adventures that day.

 

Bookcases in my room held hundreds of books – fiction and non-fiction, mysteries, science fiction, natural history and prehistory, war and westerns. Through these books I ventured to distant lands and times, gained much knowledge, and discovered the joys of exploring new ideas and using my imagination.

I’ve never outgrown my love for reading. It wasn’t that long ago that over the course of each year I would read upwards of 40 books, some relatively short and others of considerable length. All in the name of learning and growing, as well as being very intentionally entertained.

 

These days, reading seems a lost art. Ask many young people what books they have read recently, and they might be hard-pressed to name even one. They’re reading, but it’s things like text messages, their social media of choice, and Internet websites. Reading in bits and bytes, but not physical books with pages you must turn to discover what happens next.

 

And it’s not just a phenomenon among the young. Many older adults find the time they once spent reading now being consumed by some of the same diversions, along with the vast universe of TV, cable and streaming options. 

 

But there’s something special about books with pages we can touch, with covers made of paper, cloth or leather. Between those covers reside realms of wonder, whether it be facts or fantasy, non-fiction or fiction. Instead of being told what we should think, in reading we exercise our minds and hone our thinking skills, expanding what we already knew and discovering things we didn’t. Compare it to feasting on a sumptuous meal vs. digesting food someone else has already chewed.

 

Of course, when it comes to reading a book, I can recommend nothing more highly than the Bible, the Word of God. Nowhere else can we find such an amazing array of history, narrative, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, guidelines for living, and most of all, truth – God’s eternal, unchanging Truth.

 

The first time I read through the Bible, while a senior in high school, I did it solely as an intellectual exercise. I had read lots of other books, so why not read the Bible and cross it off my list? Most of what I read then made little sense to me. Only years later, after I had committed my life to Jesus Christ, did I begin to grasp the depth and scope of the Scriptures.

 

In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we’re told, “The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” With the Holy Spirit as my Teacher, however, I could start understanding what incredible treasure God has provided in the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books.

 

During times when it’s difficult to figure out what to do or which way to go, I’ve found God’s Word an incomparable roadmap. As Psalm 119:105 declares, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Another passage from that lengthy (176 verses) psalm asks and answers, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word. I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:9-11). 

 

How can we truly get to know someone and build a meaningful relationship with them unless we spend quality and quantity time with them? In an even more profound way, time spent with God in the study of His Word is never wasted.

 

In America we have access to myriad resources for learning about God and the Bible: radio and TV programs, Internet sites, sermons and messages from gifted preachers and teachers, CDs, DVDs and films. We have excellent books that address many Christian topics. I’ve had the privilege of writing, co-authoring and editing some of them myself.

But best of all, we have the Scriptures available in a variety of editions and translations, all ripe for the reading. Through them we can discover “the way, the truth and the life,” which Jesus declared Himself to be in John 14:6. Faithfully reading God’s Word points us to “the abundant life” Jesus promised in John 10:10, and it can ensure that we will not “ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus Himself and then delivered to us by those who heard Him speak” (Hebrews 2:3). 

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s a…Book! What’s a Book?

Writing a blog, you never know where inspiration will come from. At least I don’t. Just this morning I saw this photo, posted by a Facebook friend in Poland. What a visual statement about our times!

All five of the people seated are reading, but what’s the guy on the right using? For people of my generation, that’s a silly question. But in centuries to come, might sociologists, anthropologists – and even educators – be discussing the relative merits of that antiquated communication device, that thing called the “book”?

Imagine the conversation: “The book was a simple tool, really. It had no on-off switch, required no batteries, nor could it be recharged. When you were finished reading you…well, you put it down, often never to pick it up again, and you picked up another…book!” “Really? How quaint. What primitive times those were!”

If you were to look in my family room, you’d see I’ve placed great value on simple, non-electronic instruments known as books. Even though I do much of my reading these days on computers, a tablet (in my case, an iPad), and now a smart phone, I’ll never lose my deep affection for real books. Part of it’s sensory: They have a distinctive feel, the paper and ink, the gloss on the cover, the heft, especially of classic literary tomes. Then there’s the smell, even of musty books that have been around for a long time; it gives them character. And the sound, the rustle of pages as they turn, the satisfied “thump” books make when you close them.

No question, digital books and other publications on tablets and smart phones are convenient, and add no additional weight after being downloaded. I recall many times lugging books in a briefcase to keep me company while traveling.

But there’s something about a book, holding it, carrying it, opening it time and again as you advance along the journey the author has created for you. Somehow, turning pages as you proceed toward your destination – the last page – allows you to bond with the book, sometimes resulting in a cherished, lifelong friendship.

As time passes, I realize, I’ll be a member of a shrinking minority. Increasingly, people will know books as something you retrieve with the touch of a screen, and read with the deft flip of a fingertip. No matter – as long as people continue to read, I guess it doesn’t matter what media are used for accessing the books.

And I hope that, despite increasingly sophisticated technology, people will always be drawn to that timeless, most treasured book of all, the Bible. Whether in paper or visible digitally, I’m convinced it’s the one resource for experiencing life as God intended.

After all, we’re told, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). No matter whether it’s read in paper form or on some technological medium – just as long as it’s read.

That Wonderful Time of the Year

For those of us that sometimes feel pangs of guilt for watching a bit too much TV, this is the most wonderful time of the year. Finales of our favorite shows have been broadcast (leaving most of the central characters hanging – in some cases, literally) and we no longer feel obligated to report to the couch to watch the latest episodes, either live or via DVR.

Certainly the networks have conjured up programming to fill the void, but this year I’ve determined not to get caught up in the summer replacements. Instead I resolve to return to a former favorite pastime – reading books.

This artwork by Salvador Dali presents
an imaginative look at the passage of time.

These days, between TV, e-mail and the Internet, my book-reading time has been reduced to a fraction, much to my regret. Instead of the passive activity of staring at a TV monitor and having the writers and directors dictate what I should think, reading a book requires my conscious, intentional effort. It truly is interactive, and I’m eager to begin exploring what lies in the pages of the many worthy candidates that have been collecting on my bookshelves since last year.

I’m not one of those that believe TV is inherently evil – although an increasing number of shows would qualify for that description. But it does have a tendency to monopolize time that could be invested in better ways. My good friend Oswald Chambers (he died in 1917, but his classic devotional book, My Utmost For His Highest, still speaks to me every day) often says, “Good is the enemy of the best.”

So instead of whiling away hours this summer watching entertaining but pointless dramas, I plan to spend more time taking walks with my wife, horsing around with the grandkids, and gleaning from the insights of established, trusted writers who help me to distinguish the truly important from the merely urgent.

Ephesians 5:16 speaks of “redeeming (or making the best use) of the time, because the days are evil.” Time passes so quickly – you realize that more and more as you get older – and with it being in short supply, time is nothing to squander.

So I’m hoping to actively engage this summer in some real time redemption!

Back to the Bookshelf

This summer I’m returning to a first love: Reading books. As a boy I always had my nose in a book; that continued well into adulthood. But in recent years, my time with books has diminished dramatically. I’m aiming to change that, at least for a few months.

I used to read 30-40 books a year. Now I struggle to get through a dozen. I read a lot via the Internet and e-mail, of course, but it’s not the same. To me, reading a book is similar to nurturing a relationship. It demands commitment and hours of dedicated attention. Holding a book is tangible, organic; the texture of the paper under my fingertips, the rustle of the pages as they turn.

Reading also requires giving something of myself, unlike passively watching a TV program or even browsing Internet sites. In reading a good book, fiction or non-fiction, I eagerly anticipate what a turn of the page might present – new information to learn, a new adventure to experience. Finishing the last page is like bidding farewell to a good friend.

One reason for my recaptured zeal is that my favorite TV shows are on hiatus. “House,” “Bones,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Mentalist” are taking a break, a respite they and I both need. I have temporarily escaped TV’s gravitational field.

There is no biblical mandate to read books, although we are exhorted to study and meditate on God’s Word. But the apostle Paul indicates he was an avid reader, writing in 2 Timothy 4:13, “When you come, bring…my scrolls, especially the parchments.”

I’m off to a good start. Already I have finished two books and am well into two others. More volumes near my desk seem to beg, “Read me!” I intend to appease some of them during the next weeks.