Wallowing in the Scriptures

On Sunday in his sermon, my minister passed on a few comments from a young man that he's been mentoring for less than a year. Oliver is an intelligent and kindly Englishman who I've had the privilege of getting to know a little bit too. In our first conversation, we somehow got onto the topic of books and authors that have made an impact on us, and he said, almost immediately, "CS Lewis and JI Packer." So I knew we'd get along!

Apparently, it was only eight months ago that my minister introduced Oliver to the Old Testament, and since then he has read most of the bible, intensively studied many new testament epistles, read Packer's Knowing God twice, and whiles away leisure hours listening to podcast lectures from Ridley Hall Cambridge and reading the works of Cranmer and Aquinas and asking my minister tricky questions about them.

Here's what Oliver said about reading the Bible:

"You know, I've realised that when I spend just half an hour at the beginning and end of each day wallowing in the scriptures, I am a more useful person in everything else I do all day, like all my interactions are coloured by God."

I love the image of indulgence this paints - that reading scripture is a surreptitious luxury, a covert vice! I ought to be watching my tv program, but ah, just one more page! I should be getting ready for going out, but let me sit here and finish this chapter...!