Christ at the Centre

One thing that I have been convicted by throughout my life is that I need to be careful not to elevate reading—even reading Christian books—above my relationship with God. I confess that I will more readily dive into a book than the Bible at many times, and that this can start eroding my relationship with God. It's not that I perceive Him as being legalistic and counting how many times I am in His Word versus everything else I read. It's more that I want to do everything I can to guard my heart against idolatry. I believe that,

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:21

While treasure can amount to physical objects, I am realizing more and more that my time can be counted as treasure as well. Thus, I need to be even more careful that I am not consumed by all the time and attention I pay to looking up new books, reading, shopping, and of course, looking at lovely pictures of other people's home libraries (a much more recent phenomenon for me).

Although I am not sharing specific details about myself on this blog due to being an intensely private person, I will be vulnerable in sharing about my struggles and thought processes from time to time. Part of the wonder of reading is that a careful arrangement of 26 letters can bring about such a connection to others through shared emotions and stories. My hope is that other Christians can find aspects they can relate to as I convey the impact that books has had on my life. I find it fascinating that the very tool, technique, or spiritual pathway—reading—that helps me feel closest to God can be the very thing that I need to watch out for, lest it take over my life in ways that I do not want it to.

I am not a perfect reader. There have been things I have regretted reading over the years. I do not always compare what I read to Scripture and am sometimes guided by the notion of a Christian worldview as opposed to specific verses. I am also an easily misguided reader where I can get sucked into stories where upon later reflection, I realize that it was not good or unhealthy. I have aspirations of being a discerning reader, but I can succumb to what's popular out of morbid curiosity. The life of a learner can go down interesting, but not always beneficial paths. This is where I need to continually remind myself that what I read both matters and doesn't matter. This paradox keeps me on my toes as I see how what I read can have eternal impact while other materials I read will pass away with the world and not have extended meaning.

Thankfully, I can hold fast to the following truth as I engage in the pursuit of reading:

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever." - Isaiah 40:8

Comments

Double Takes

Continuing on the theme of books that can be labourious to get through, I've been coming across more and more content in Christian fiction that has me scratching my head, though they don't necessarily always affect the rating of the book (unless they're all piled on egregiously or something, but that hasn't happened yet). To be honest, a double take is usually the extent of what I give these mentions, but I do find it interesting that there is a bit of a shift in what can be included in Christian fiction nowadays. There are just a few of the ones that have stood out to me over the past while, though I'm sure there could be more added to the list as well. Luck/chance . I have caught myself in the past wishing someone "good luck" even though I don't believe in it, so I've tried to shift to saying things like, "all the best" or "I'll be thinking of you," even if it's a little longer or more awkward to say. All that to say,

Weighing the Effort

It's been just a little bit less than a year since I've started blogging again and creating a social media account to share about my love of books. Sometimes, I look back to when I first started and envision all of the changes that have happened in my life since that time. A lot of the changes have been absolutely splendid, where I could not imagine having a more fun year in connecting with authors and readers alike. Other changes have required more effort than should be necessary, which has resulted in additional strain. Though I haven't always been successful, I've tried to foster an attitude of positivity around my account. After all, it's my sheer love of Christian books that has led me to share my thoughts and reviews more publicly. However, for several months now, I have encountered so much friction on my social media account that it's made sharing content all the more difficult, especially since the majority of people interact with me over there rather th

Wedding Scenes

I've had the pleasure of reading some lovely wedding scenes lately and it had me thinking about books that choose to include them. In noticing that a lot of the romances I read tend to end with either the couple finally confirming their relationship or possibly an engagement if there is an epilogue, I'm usually left wanting to know what the wedding will look like. If there happens to be any wedding scene, it may be from the perspective of a character in the next book in the series, such as a bridesmaid or family member as a segue into their own story. However, I've found that when I get to read fuller descriptions of a wedding from either the bride or the groom's point of view that it seems to make the book feel more complete. That's not to say that a wedding should always be included, especially if the timing doesn't make sense, but they are wonderful to read about. In terms of Christian weddings, I've always been curious as to how authors convey this. Some

Christian Shelves

Search This Blog