“Give Attention to Reading”
I cannot do it! I think that almost every other member of my family can do it, but I can’t.
I cannot read something (even a newspaper or magazine) while something else is going on. There is no such thing as something “playing in the background” for me. Before I realize it, whatever I’ve been reading is on the back burner and my attention is focused on the tube, the music, or whatever. I cannot even concentrate on what I’m trying to read if a conversation is going on in the same room in which I find myself.
However, I have made an amazing discovery. Most of the things that can distract me from reading (and comprehending) have an “off” button.
There is one exception to this. I haven’t found the “off” button for people, but that’s another subject. In fact, I’m thinking that, in the vast majority of cases, I would be much better off to engage in conversation with family members and friends than to have my nose stuck in a book, magazine, or whatever.
That one discovery has led to other amazing discoveries. On those occasions when I choose to use the “off” button to spend time reading, the world keeps spinning, gravity still works, there is no measurable depletion in the amount of oxygen available for me to breathe, and all the planets remain in their orbits. In other words, the world does not come to an end if I miss an episode of a television show I’ll forget shortly after I watch it, my favorite team wins or loses, I don’t know the latest charges and countercharges various political candidates level at one another, or I miss a report on some “celebrity” who is mostly famous for being famous.
A long time ago a young preacher was encouraged by an older preacher to “…give attention to reading…” (1 Tim. 4:13, NKJV). This was not just “sage advice.” The words were inspired by the Holy Spirit. I realize that the phrase may have a somewhat different meaning than what I’m thinking about as I type these words. In fact, the word translated “attention” in this translation is translated differently in other translations.
In the original context, Paul was reminding Timothy to make reading a priority. In fact, the admonition has to do with the public reading of scripture. A lot of preachers today would do well to practice that. Unfortunately, what passes for “preaching” today sometimes only uses a verse or two from the Bible as a “jumping off place” for a motivational talk, an entertaining monologue, a call to some sort of political or social action, etc.
I would like to take Paul’s inspired words as translated in the New King James Version of the Bible to make another application as well. I fully understand that my application is, in no way, inspired. At the same time, I think that it has some merit. In fact, I am thinking of a sort of
“double application.”
First, I would suggest that we need to make sure that we are focused on what we are reading. We need to be making sure that we are understanding and comprehending what the author of whatever we are reading is trying to communicate to us.
Second, we need to make sure that we are spending our time reading something that deserves our attention. If I have chosen to do more reading, but have chosen to read material such as tabloids, romance novels, social media rants, etc., I might as well just go ahead and turn the television back on, plug my earbuds back in, or do whatever I was doing before I started reading. There’s not much sense in spending money for more than one source of trash.
As you might expect, I have a suggestion or two concerning proper and profitable reading material. How about spending some time with God’s word and with materials that will help us to have a better understanding of that grand volume? Surely that would be a better investment of our time than wasting time with various forms of media (including the printed page) that fill our minds with what is, at best, worthless and what is possibly even damaging to our souls.
In the midst of the very hectic schedule and lifestyle that many of us have, hopefully all of us can find the time and the environment to “…give attention to reading…” Hopefully, too, we will be found reading material that is worth the effort.
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
