Books Change Things

Books Change Things

Think about what I am saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things.

2 Timothy 2:7

My life changed forever when our family moved near a library when I was in elementary school. I lived close enough to ride my bike there after school and on weekends. I hadn’t read much before that time, but I fell in love with books. Through the years I continued to read, and I eventually became a writer myself. The Amish spend many winter nights reading, and sometimes books change them more than they think.

Occasionally young people’s love for reading or simple curiosity about ideas or the outside world entices them to delve into reading materials that the community finds objectionable. Non-Amish co-workers or local librarians sometimes recommend and even provide books that promote critical thinking or encourage additional formal education. For some readers, these ideas provoke a discontent with their limited education and stimulate a desire for more learning. Some of these Amish young people eventually leave.

. . . For every reader who leaves the Amish, many more Old Order youth remain to become self-educated. They now function as successful draftsmen, veterinary technicians, midwives, unofficial chiropractors, mechanics, hydraulic and pneumatic technicians, inventors, tax accountants, writers, historians, and even occasionally computer programmers for outside businesses—all without the benefit of high school or college. Most of them demonstrate the ability to analyze both mainstream and Amish society.

Has reading changed your life? Reading books may change your choice of career or even your choice of community, but only God’s Word can change you from the inside out. Psalm 12:6 says, “The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.” Books give knowledge, but God’s Word provides pure wisdom. Books can inspire, but only God’s Word can transform.

Schedule a time soon to dig deep into God’s Word, and ask God to give you His wisdom to understand and change from the inside out.

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for the written word . . . and for Your Word that changes everything.