A Reading Plan For 2018

Why am I showing you a picture of an empty book shelf? Because I want to show you how organized and clean our house is. It's so organized because I emptied everything out of the house and started over. See?

No, I really didn't get rid of everything in the house - that's just silly. But what I did do was empty these two shelves in our living room, which were once filled to overflowing with books.

And here's why: we have hundreds of books and I want to know exactly what I've read this year when December rolls around. I'm looking forward to the visual proof of what I've read along the way and which books helped me the most, gave me a few hours of pure enjoyment or convicted my heart of how I can be a better living sacrifice for the Lord.

If you're thinking about coming up with a new and different reading plan for the year, here are a few suggestions to get you started. Unless you like empty book shelves, too.

* Read a classic book you've never read before.

* Ask for book recommendations from your closest friends.

* Browse the new book section of your local library for a title you haven't heard of.

* Lose yourself in a used book store and find some treasures.

* Choose a book that's more than 500 pages long.

* And then pick a book you can read in a day.

* Check out a memoir or biography of someone you admire.

* Study your Bible with a different commentary or author than usual.

When you get to the last week of December, you'll be amazed at how many new books you've devoured and all the ways they've challenged your mind and touched your heart.

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