This must be said: Read the footnotes and endnotes in books. Nobody does and everyone should. They are there for a reason. Sometimes they are very telling. You may discover who an author has been reading and so has been influenced by–for better or for worse. From this you may get turned on to some great new authors you have never read. Or, you may learn that the person you are reading has some strange and questionable influences and so you are warned to precede with caution.

Also, modern publishers are often publishing for the average reader and so working very hard to make their books simple, easy, and accessible. Sometimes, the information a student of the Word and the Faith is most interested in is in the notes.

I am so annoyed by publishers and books that put the notes at the end of a book (endnotes) and not the bottom of the page (footnotes)–so tedious and unfair. This is done in most popular books. Who wants to flip to the back every few seconds? I don’t, but I do.  Conversely, more scholarly books have the notes at the bottom of the page, because they know scholars are interested in reading the notes for further insight and learning, so they very kindly make it convenient to do so. Be interested in reading the notes. Be a scholar!

Don’t let the idea of “being a scholar” conjure up connotations of mean men and women who have no real faith in Jesus and just sit in seminaries writing books that cast aspersion on Scripture and the historicity and deity of Christ. There are those types to be sure! But that is not what I am referring to when I say to you “be a scholar”. I mean: be a “specialist in a branch of study and one who has an aptitude for study”.(1) Be a specialist in studying the person of Jesus and the Christian faith and have an aptitude to study the Word of God!(2) 

We have enough Christians who are working hard at being popular. We should be working hard at being studious!(3) 

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(1) The Oxford American Dictionary.

(2) See 2 Timothy 2:15

(3) Again, see 2 Timothy 2:15 if you didn’t the first time. If you did not go and see 2 Timothy 2:15 the first time it is either because you already know what it said (good job), or you are not interested in further study. This footnote is a test. If you read it and follow its advice to see 2 Timothy 2:15 you will have learned more about the Bible, the will of God for your life, and the implications of this blog than if you ignored it. You will also see from whence I have drawn my inspiration for being a diligent student of the Word of God. Hopefully this will change your mind about a few things. Working hard at studying the Bible is not a self-selected option for a few; it is a command of Scripture for every Christian everywhere at all times. 

Hey guys… I was just asked a question on the “Britt’s Books” page of this blog site from a brother who loves books (as I do), but was in the habit of not finishing them and was feeling a little sad about it. I wrote him back, and after doing so it occurred to me that some others out there may be feeling similarly. So I thought i would share part of my response with y’all I hope it is helpful.

“…don’t feel bad about not finishing books. I probably don’t finish at least half the books I read. I read until I feel satisfied, and then I stop. Why not? The only book I feel obligated to keep reading is the Bible. Every other book is a tool… you use it for as long as it meets a need and fulfills a purpose. When that is achieved, you put the tool down. No problem. Most books are only great for so long or in certain parts. Usually I will use a book like a reference work and pick the parts out of it that will be useful to me. I hope that helps…”

PS- Because I do view books as tools and reference works I take copious notes in them while reading. You know, like congruent thoughts I am having or revelations or cross references to Scripture or whatever. I also use tabs to keep track of topics, quotes, thoughts, points, facts, or whatever that I may want to refer to later. I do this with everything I read. It really slows the reading down, but then it makes the book a more effective tool in the future. Lets say I am doing a sermon on prayer and I remember something Charles Spurgeon said in Lectures To My Students (a must read for ministers by the way) on the subject. If it was profound enough for me to remember later then I for sure had marked and labeled it with a tab while reading it. So I can just go to my shelf and pull down that book and viola! There it is. No time wasted and the tool has been used most effectively. I really hope this is helpful to you. It is important to read good Christian books and it is important to use them effectively to the Glory of King Jesus!

“O give me that book! At any price give me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be a man of one book.”

(John Wesley)

Quoted in: John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching (Grand Rapids: Bajer, 2004), 46.

By the way, this book is a must read for all you preachers out there… and I hope you are out there.