Yesterday I finished writing today’s sermon a bit earlier than usual, so I sat down to write a letter to my daughters, which is a practice that my wife and I have been doing since she was pregnant with our eldest. Looking at the books on my shelves, I just started writing down some thoughts and advice. After reading over it, I thought that it might be worth sharing here.

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I am surrounded by the books in my library. Dead men encircle me as I write, a great cloud of witnesses. They each fought the fight. They finished their races. Can I do the same?

As another Newton once said something similar, I am only able to see because I stand on the shoulders of these giants. Loving books is not virtuous. Instead, love the words that they contain. Love those who toiled to leave them for us to read. Remember that only Scripture is inerrant. Even so, discern an author’s errors in humility. Hindsight really is 20/20.

Whenever a book changes you, do not hesitate to read it again. Life isn’t a race to see who can read the most books. Plus, the mark of a great books is that it rewards revisiting. But the greatest of books will master you far more than you will ever master them.

Books are like food. It’s fine to have popcorn for a snack. Just don’t expect to be nourished by it.

Always be working through a book that is just a bit too hard for you, otherwise your comprehension will stagnate. Reading is form of exercise for your mind. Just like you get better at doing push-ups by doing push-ups, you learn to read weighty books by reading weighty books.

Buy more books than you will ever be able to read. The purpose of building a library is not to read every word; it is to create an external neural network. Gather books that you want (or need) to shape your thinking. With nonfiction, read the introduction and study carefully the table of contents before you put it on the shelf. That practice catalogues the book within the mind, so that you have an idea for when the book might be helpful, even before you ever read it cover-to-cover.

Treat your books with care, but don’t be afraid to use them. Books, especially the Bible, are better marked up and falling up from use than pristine from never being read.

Speaking of the Bible, put Spurgeon’s counsel to practice: “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.”

In all your readings, seek the Truth, and you will find Him.