I use to collect Sci-Fi and Fantasy paperbacks. At my zenith I probably had 300 volumes representing an investment of at least a thousand dollars and countless hours of poking through used book stores. My favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon was to visit a half dozen dusty repositories and scour the shelves looking for a missing volume or perhaps a favorite in better condition than I currently had.
Old books have a certain smell, not moldy or mildewy, but the smell of aged paper, fading ink and adventure.
I spent years gathering all the individual volumes of my favorite sets like Tarzan and Conan the Barbarian. I would read my favorites at least once a year, visiting them like friends whom I drop in on from time to time, sharing old memories. Until I walked into my study one day and saw the bowed, double stacked shelves as a mirror of my life. I saw the money and time commitment in buying and consuming them. I saw the intellectual fodder I fed into my mind with them. I saw the golden Nebuchadnerian hue they had attained for me.
Not a voice, but in my spirit, it was as if the Lord asked "Why are you so willing to spend yourself on these, but not on my Word?" This struck me, this convicted me and this changed me.
I packed them up the next day and sold them. Ninety bucks for the whole lot. I took the money and purchased some books to help me read and understand the Bible. I can trace the origin of my calling to preach and teach God's Word to that day.
I still occasionally read Sci-Fi and Fantasy, though I mainly go in for history and the classics now when I'm looking for leisure reading. I still look through used book stores for fun. But I feed my soul with the Word of Life.
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