I have yet to live a day longer than twenty-four hours. I have yet to live a day less than twenty-four hours as well. It seems to me we are stuck with that number of hours per day and the amount of days we have in one week is but seven. Those seven lead on to more quantities of measurement that we are aware of which I cannot go to now for lack of coffee.
I call to our attention the limitations of our time. This is to better orient us to the truth that we haven’t very long to get some reading in. I wish we could spend more time in those books of ours, but there is the whole thing with work, family, and church. The list goes on and we need to make sure we allow some time to think and read.
With all we do have going on in life and the limited amount of time we each have allotted to us, how then shall we read? Here are a few suggestions to get you in some books.
1) Add the reading at the end of your regular Bible study. Whether you are a morning Bible reader or a evening Bible reader or even both, tacking on a few extra minutes to your Bible time could be that breakthrough you need. I sometimes do this with a biography or series of published sermons. Just one chapter or ten pages tacked on at the end of Bible study makes for some good ground covered.
2) While waiting. We all have been in line or in a waiting room at the doctor. Redeem those moments by cracking open that book or opening up your Kindle app. It beats scrolling for no good reason besides wishing you were in the Bahamas after seeing you long lost biology teacher there. Waiting can get you in and out of a book in a short span of time, but that short time over time means that finished stack is growing.
3) Give yourself ten minutes. Somewhere in the day just give yourself ten minutes to read. Make it a habit. Ten minutes should mean a few pages and those few pages add up. Again this goes with Doug Wilson’s idea of plodding. Just getting your licks in where you can adds up to a knockout.
There you have it. Three small steps to get you in a book. Nothing fancy or extreme. If you aren’t already a reader, these steps are great for you. Nothing major but they are steps in the right direction. Of course this doesn’t account for audio books which you could listen to while doing all sorts of things, but it does give you an idea of how to get into that physical book you’ve been meaning to read. Read on, the clock is ticking.