He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil - Isaiah 33:15 KJV
I love a good book, and more often than not, I download books onto my Ipod so I can "read with my ears". I did that the other day, the book seemed an ordinary sci-fi/fantasy novel full of sword fighting and adventure. The title was "A Game of Thrones; A Song of Fire and Ice". The the description didn't seem to portray anything wrong with the book and the reviews were positive. So I listened, eager for a good read. Chapter 1 was good, so was two, by three I had gone "Yikes" a couple times at the content. By chapter 4 I deleted it off my Ipod and my computer.
A part of me wanted to read on and just finish the book, I mean I had spent money on it, but I am glad I didn't. I was reminded on how careful we have to be when reading books. The thing about books is you won't know if it is bad until you start reading it, and by then it can be too late, it's already in your brain. Even when you do your research and read reviews and the description, the majority of the content is a secret until you read it yourself. That is why for the most part, I read books who's authors are Christians or who have passed away. That doesn't always work either, but it cuts down a lot of the trash.
So what do you do when you are reading happily along and suddenly you run into a lewd scene, or anything else that compromises your values? You STOP IMMEDIATELY. I know how tempting it can be to just read on, but don't! I like to read a passage of Scripture right away so it kind of "covers up" what I have just read and switches the gears in my mind to Holy things. Then I get rid of whatever I was reading/listening to so when I'm bored I don't go right back to it.
Be careful little brain what you read. You will be surprised how much it absorbs even when you "skip over it".
-Victoria
2 comments:
Great post, Victoria. I also struggle with this a lot. I also had to do this recently with a book I got, and I did stop reading, but it was hard to do. Thanks for writing this!
Matthew
It takes a lot of conviction, resolve and maturity to quit reading something that you've started. It's so good to recognize those first moments of conviction...that's the Holy Spirit!
Good job guys!
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