The Final Words

Every year I read through the Bible but now I use oneyearbible.com. The following is from December 31, 2009 and it discusses some books I  had just finished reading at that point in time.

As the year has wound down, I have been very busy reading. Since arriving in Kansas eleven days ago, I have completely read three books and I'm halfway though number four. There are few times that I can just sit down and soak up reading material and this is one of them. One of the books was inspiring. How Starbucks Saved My Life is the true story of a high powered business executive who lost his career through no fault of his own and subsequently lost his family, totally through his own sin. But the author, Michael Gates, was able to rebuild his life though the help of an entry level job at the world's largest coffee chain and the encouragement of a Starbucks' staff whose members shared almost no common traits with the author. Dave Ramsey's The Money Answer Book taught me terrific financial principles based on Biblical concepts. The other two reads have been about celebrities. Girls Like Us is a concurrent biography about singer/songwriters Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. The Chris Farley Show, which I hope to finish tomorrow, is a look at the life of the mercurial comedian who died at age thirty-three. To be honest, the chronicles of the celebrities have left me sad. In spite of great professional success, the four led existences marred by drug and alcohol use, marital infidelity, promiscuity, and family heartaches. Being blessed with extreme amounts of talent and critical acclaim while in their twenties did not protect the quartet from trauma and anxiety. Maybe they mirror what most of us would become if flooded with adulation and wealth at a very young age. I also blame myself in the case of the women, enjoying the music they produced in their youth over their later works. I would hate for anyone to think my productivity peaked when I was twenty-five. At that tender stage of of my life, I barely could tell which way was up.

I finished another book today. Late this afternoon, I read the December 31st entry in the One Year Bible, a division of the scriptures in 365 segments. Tomorrow, I'll go back to the January 1 section of Genesis 1- Matthew 1- Psalm 1- Proverbs 1. Overwhelmingly, I don't re-read anything with the exception of the Bible. I take comfort in knowing how it ends before I delve back into, ''In the beginning...'' the first day of each new year, or as is the case in several hours, each new decade. There is always more to learn, to see, to inspire, to pass on. I find that is spite of my many imperfections, I am loved and saved. That is the best message I have ever read. And so, to end this year, let me leave you with the final verse of the scriptures, Revelation chapter 22, verse 21:''The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. AMEN"

Applicable quote of the day:
''Nobody ever outgrows Scripture: the Book widens and deepens with our years''

Charles H. Spurgeon

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

http://www.hawleybooks.com/

E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com