Words: 373
Time to read: 2 minutes
I remember hearing that I’d be the same person in 10 years except for the books I’d read and the people I’d met.
I can’t say that I am an interesting person but I suppose I’ve met some interesting people (some more than others).
I can’t say that I’ve read as much as I’d like but I’ve read some interesting books.
Like it or not, our influences are wide-ranging and profound. Even things that apparently don’t have any impact on us form us in ways that are beyond our capacity to see at the moment. To this day I will never forget a rather off-handed conversation that I had at a summer camp almost 15 years ago about the will of God. That 10-minute interaction—walking down a dark path after an evening preaching service—is probably completely forgotten by the man with whom I was speaking. I haven’t seen or spoken to him in well over 12 years.
At yet…
I received that instruction at a time when my heart was apparently malleable and ready to receive. Unfortunately, I’ve squandered moments that could have marked my heart and life in similar fashion, all because I was not ready to receive.
Never develop a relationship or read a book merely to fill a void—emotional or time. Whether you acknowledge it or not, both the capability to truly change who you are and the way you think.
I remember my dad would make a remark about his grandfather saying that he “never met a stranger”. I wonder how many times I’ve missed an opportunity for God to use someone to help me or a book to challenge or encourage me but I was not ready to receive? That’s the power of reading. That’s the power of relating. But—I must be ready to receive and be looking to grow otherwise I just continue the same day after week after decade.
A ready heart is not disposed to whatever it receives but rather filters it through God’s Word and weighs it against wisdom. Look at everything with a critical eye judging its Scriptural validity and real-life utility and above all be ready to receive. You just never know when you could change your life.