Day 55 - The Dead Guys

"I like how my uncle says that he likes to read from the dead guys. There is something to that. Their life and the outcome has been proven. They have finished their race and the outcome of their faith plus the legacy that they left shows the work of God and trustworthiness of the writings they left. There are a ton of books out right now (many of them in my office) with authors literally giving them away in a desire that someone reads them as the latest and greatest. But a dead guy has no need of gain. Just a heart for what he believed and knew of God to be true. Especially if they ran to the end and endured. That is a book to be digested."

I think I am a bit book overloaded and reading fatigued. I can't read for enjoyment as much as I would like because I read so much for study on a daily basis. 

That being said even in my studies I still like to read after the dead guys. I get some of my best illustrations and insight from them. They have something to say because they endured and showed by their lives that what they believed was true. They are a part of the great cloud of witnesses now. 

I have also felt the disappointment of reading after someone and later they failed in their marriage or ministry. It makes me want to throw their book in the trash. Same thing when I read from someone who goes after a pet doctrine or the latest wave of teaching. Get the Holy Spirit's wisdom that He wants to express through you and write that down. Or just tell the story of what God is doing in you. That is worth hearing about. 

What dead guys do you like to read after? Which titles impacted you the most?