Your TBR Book Pile Is An Aid, Not A Replacement

You're going to be so proud of us. We spent several hours this week sorting and organizing our books, to get the piles and stacks in the office under control. The result is a beautiful library with books in categories, and all the ones I've read have bookmarks in them so I can easily recognize them.

And for clarification, sorting means putting them on shelves, not sorting them out to be sold or donated. I'm just not comfortable with that concept.

I love to read with all my heart. Reading has always been my love, my escape, my knowledge-maker, my fun, and my comfort. Danny gave me the best T-shirt ever for my birthday - it's purple and says "I closed my book to be here." That's how seriously I take our books.

Many of the books in my TBR pile (to be read) are commentaries and studies of the Bible. There is one shelf in the book nook (ok, it's the closet) that is just studies on certain parts or books of Scripture. And now the study books are in biblical order so I can read them in sequence as I'm reading through the Bible again this year. This kind of order makes my heart happy.

The only problem is that sometimes the TBR pile takes the place of reading the Bible itself. I adore my study time each day, and I love picking new books to read, but when I'm reading what other people say about God's word than actually reading His word for myself, my interest is in the wrong place.

One of my favorite things about Psalm 119 is that almost every verse has something to say about God's word. The psalmist fills 176 verses with praise for the law, keeping His testimonies, loving His precepts, honoring His righteous judgments, and learning His statutes.

No human book has ever been spoken about with this much love and passion. The God-breathed Bible is what my soul longs for, and it is the only book that will satisfy. Yes, I want to read other people's thoughts and ideas as they read the same Bible I'm reading, but I don't want any of those books to take the place of my Bible reading time.

As we dive into a new week, my prayer is that we will spend more time in our Bibles than in any other book. I hope that we will supplement our reading time with study time. And my belief is that God will bless us for having our priorities in the right order, giving us ample time to read the books that will grow us and inspire us to read His word even more.

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