Tell me what you read…
(Recently, Anna posted a book recommendation for Mountain Trailways for Youth – a daily devotional compiled by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman in 1947. The other day she wanted me to read the following excerpt from this book – the reading for September 11. Keep in mind, that this daily devotional was compiled exclusively for youth but what a great need for all ages! Mommas, what are we teaching our children – by our word and our example – in this area of what we should allow ourselves to read?)
“give attendance to reading” I Timothy 4:13
Tell me what you read, and I will tell you whether you are becoming like the strong oak that stands deep-rooted, ready for the sudden storm, or like the flimsy tumbleweed that is rolled across the fields by every caprice of the wind. I will tell you whether you will grow as the straight, tall fir tree grows, or be like the little garden shrub that never grows at all, or never casts any cool shade. I will always know if your leaves are green and your fruit faithful like the tree planted by the rivers of water, or dry as the sagebrush on the desert; whether you are tender and fragrant like the rose, or prickly and bitter like the thistle. When the importance of good literature is urged upon them, people often say, “I just haven’t time!” Some excuse themselves in what they read by saying, “But this is perfectly innocent and harmless.” No doubt it apparently may be, but is it positively helpful? In reality much of the so-called harmless reading matter in many of our homes is harmful in the very fact that it is not helpful. It is idle. It consumes quantities of time and interest and brain room without giving much eternal quality in return. The next time you find yourself reading, ask yourself these questions: 1. Is this strengthening my character, or slowly, subtly undermining it? 2. Does this raise my ideals and sensibilities, or does it accustom me to worldliness and sin, until I gradually lose my protest and feel that some things are not so bad after all? 3. Does it make me a better Christian? In reading this am I exhibiting high standards or low standards in my mental food and entertainment? 4. Does my choice indicate refined or cheap tastes? 5. Is this reading leading my mind along the way of least resistance; does it put my mental powers to sleep as a sedative, making me mentally lazy, and unfitting me for real thinking, or does it stimulate and sharpen my mental faculties? 6. Does it leave me with a little feeling of pollution, or a sense of wholesomeness and well-being? Do I feel as though I have had a mental bath or as though I needed one? 7. Does it increase my relish for the Bible and good, solid reading, or does it dull that relish and make such reading appear tame and uninteresting? 8. Is it the best kind of reading I could be doing at this moment? - Excerpts from a Sermon (taken from Mountain Trailways for Youth - Mrs. Charles E. Cowman)