Tuesday, November 27, 2012

BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS


"But as for you,
Christ has poured out his Spirit on you.
As long as his Spirit remains in you,
you do not need anyone to teach you.
For his Spirit teaches you about everything,
and what he teaches is true, not false.
Obey the Spirit's teaching, then
and remain in union with Christ."
(1 John 1:27 GNB)


Books, books and more books.
I LOVE BOOKS.

Over the years there have been two things I could not pass up.
Books and tools.

I have had hundreds of books.
Most of these books have been either spiritual in content,
or instructional.
[You think I should have read more of them.  I probably should have!]

One of these books - EXPERIENCING THE DEPTHS OF 
JESUS CHRIST - by Jeanne Guyon
has a thought I want to look into more deeply
and pass on to you.

One of her chapters is written for illiterates, 
people who cannot read.
That's right.  She wrote a chapter for people who cannot read.
She intended that someone who could read, would read it to 
someone who could not read.

The essence of that chapter is, 
you do not need to suffer spiritually because you cannot read.
On page fifteen she says,

"The first thing you must learn, dear friend,
is that 'the kingdom of God is within you.'
(Luke 17:21)

"Never look for the kingdom anywhere but there,
within.  Once you have realized that the kingdom of God is
within you and can be found there, just come to the Lord."

The apostle Paul seems to concur with this,
that is, if you are a "real" Christian and 
the Spirit of God is in you.

"But you do not live as your human nature tells you to:
instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to -
if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ
 does not belong to him."
(Romans 8:9 GNB)

"Surely you know that you are God's temple
and that God's Spirit lives in you!
.... For God's" temple is holy, and you
yourselves are his temple."
(1 Corinthians 3:16, 17 GNB)

"Don't you know that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you
and who was given to you by God?"
(1 Corinthians 6:19 GNB)

Is it possible that those of us who love books
may be looking the wrong place for our guidance.
That is, other people rather than the "Spirit" that 
is within us.

Of course, if it is not God's Spirit in us,
we are in trouble anyway and would only
be mislead further.

Books are good.
But are books causing us to miss the best?

"My child, there is something else to watch out for.
There is no end to the writing of books,
and too much study will wear you out."
(Ecclesiastes 12:12 GNB)


1 comment:

Kathleen said...

From my earliest recall, I have been a book lover too. My interests run along various courses, and at this stage in my life I seem to select spiritual tomes over any other. Even so, I occasionally enjoy a good novel or biography. But my fav? The Good Book!