“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” -Dr Seuss

I think that a person who doesn’t read, is a person lacking intelligence, ambition, and discipline. There I said it. I finally got it off my chest. Let the terrible emails begin piling up in my inbox. Let the littlepastor haters tell me that they’re too busy to read, that they can’t afford books, and that reading makes them sleepy. I’m ready for the insults, so go ahead and send them. But first, let me give you some ammunition to fight against me with.

Reading is so incredibly valuable to adding to your intelligence. You may ask, “Who cares if I’m smart?” Well, you should care. Everyone should always be on the lookout to gain wisdom here or knowledge there. And quite honestly, you’re stupid if you don’t! What kind of person doesn’t want to increase their knowledge of the world around them? Probably the same person who tells me that they don’t need to read, because they watch the History Channel. How can you expect to get all the details of WWII watching a 46 minute documentary on D-Day? Now, I love these programs as well, but I double-dog dare you to pick up a Stephen Ambrose book on this same topic and see if you get a better perspective on D-Day. I’m telling you, television will never accurately summarize a 400 page introspective on D-Day. Will Never Happen! When someone tells me they don’t read, it’s like they’re telling me they don’t care to increase in knowledge; which in turn tells me they have no ambition to be anything better than they are.

Reading is for the ambitious. I have been known to read a biography every once in a while. I love to read about great leaders, and one trait about all these men is that they were readers. It seems to me that the more ambitious the leader, the more ambitious the reader. I heard a story yesterday about Abraham Lincoln, and before leading the US into the Civil War, he went to his local libraries and read books for over a year on military strategy. Why would he do this? Because he didn’t know anything about military strategy and he was about to be looked upon as an expert in military strategy! He learned something he did not know, and he was ambitious enough to seek the answer in a book. And if you read this and think, “Who’s Abraham Lincoln?” Then you really need to go back and try to pass the 3rd grade, it’ll be worth the extra work.

I also feel that when someone tells me they don’t read, it’s like they’re telling me they aren’t disciplined enough to finish the task of reading a book. Reading isn’t always easy. For every Donald Miller book that is a joy to read, there is an F.F. Bruce book. F.F. Bruce was a genius, but his books are like eating pot roast, and with my little brain I feel as if I’m eating pot roast with a spork when I read his books. Every book requires discipline to finish, whether it be an easy read or more difficult. I have found that the more difficult books I tackle, the easier reading becomes for me. Reading builds discipline for other areas of my life as well, and I find that when I’m reading I’m also in a good rhythm to finish other tasks around me with great fervor.

I say all these terribly honest things, because I stand as the most guilty person of all. I can tell that when I stop reading and start filling my brain with the endless hogwash on television or the Internet that I lose confidence and become lazy in all areas of my life. So be challenged today! Read! Read like you were meant to! Read to go places!

Now if I could just turn my reading passion into a writing passion…