Someone can learn and basically understand the Gospel in about ten minutes’ time. We don’t need to learn more in order to be saved, but we do need to learn more—and to keep on learning—if we want to live a fruitful, productive and spiritually successful life. If you missed last week’s post, you can find it here, Are You Running the Wrong Race . This one carries on the message that the secret to spiritual success isn’t so secret—there’s a well-worn path to spiritual maturity and productivity.
The Widest Highway to Wisdom
Though worthy podcasts, sermons, lectures and documentaries can all help us grow in wisdom and understanding, one of the best methods to strengthen our minds and understanding is via reading. I caught my son reading a lengthy book on vacation that didn’t seem to coincide with the graduate studies he was undertaking. Knowing how many books he had to read during and before the school year, I was intrigued to know why he was reading yet another lengthy book and asked him about it.
By way of background, some of the most influential and successful people in the world end up speaking as guest lecturers at his graduate school. Graham has heard from heads of states, business titans, professional athletes, politicians, entertainers, you name it. Out of that experience he told me (when I asked about the book he was reading), “I’ve noticed something about every super successful person we’ve heard speak at school.”
“What’s that?”
“They all read a lot of books and watch only a little bit of television.”
Graham’s perspective is a shared one. Charlie Munger, co-founder of Berkshire Hathaway (with Warren Buffett), once said, “In my life I have known no wise people who don’t read all the time. None. Zero.”
It’s not just business or investment titans that hold this perspective. I read a book on preaching that was written several decades ago. One small section featured a dynamic pastor in Houston, Texas who was knocking it out of the park on a weekly basis with captivating sermons that would eventually create one of the largest churches in the nation.
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