READING. Part 3

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Let's read about Joshua in the bible. God said to him, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful." (Joshua 1:8 AMP). God did not just say read and prosper, He said read continually, always ponder on what you read, then carefully do what it says; that is His panacea for our prosperity and success. That book of the law is the Bible. It is the manual on the Christian way to a successful life. In it, God our Maker Himself is giving us the formular for success which is reading constantly, particularly His word. Joshua did. He achieved a successful mission, for the bible quotes him, "See, I have parceled out to your tribes these remaining nations, from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the nations I defeated." (Joshua 23:4 NET). In the longest chapter in the bible, Psalm 119, King David the psalmist wrote 176 verses describing what the word of God is and what it does in our lives. You may read through it again to see the depth and wealth of knowledge of God it contains. Have you noticed that the Book of proverbs contains 31 chapters and that most months are 31 days? Reading a chapter a day and following what it says will do us a lot of good. 
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body and so there are countless benefits we receive the more we read. One writer on fitness gave the following benefits we derive from reading: it stimulates our mind, we acquire knowledge, we enlarge our vocabulary, it sharpens our writing and analytical skills, improves our memory and boosts concentration, feeds our imagination, provides fun and entertainment and reduces stress. And I hasten to add that reading also restores health. The hospitalised patient who spends his resting period reading may go home faster than one who lies idle on his bed.
So what are we saying? First, read the bible and meditate on the words each day as priority. Then spend the rest of your day reading other publications to widen your horizon and bring you several benefits and opportunities. The internet and the social media are great resource platforms for useful posts and publications. They are more beneficial than audio, video and television entertainment alone.
In my next post D.V., I will offer my latest book to you for your reading pleasure. God bless you richly.

 Olusegun Ojosipe-Isaac
olusegunisaac2018@gmail.com

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