The Book Tim Keller Has Read Once a Month for Twenty Years
What book would anyone read, or even have time to read, once a month for twenty years? Maybe like you, I have several books I’m reading at the same time. I only finish a few books each year. The book Tim Keller has read once a month for twenty years is the book of Psalms.
The other Tim (Tim Ferris) I wrote about on Wednesday said the second thing on his list of 5 things he’d like to accomplish the first hour of the day was mediation. For him, meditation is a twenty minute or so exercise in which he contemplates, concentrates, or focuses on something.
In place of Tim’s Ferris’s version of meditation, I’ve followed Tim Keller’s pattern. I found, though, that after 10 days, I was already behind schedule, and it was clear to me that I wasn’t going catch up. I just came to terms with my pace. Two psalms a day was about right for me, depending on the length of each psalm.
Another option is to use a daily devotional guide. One I like is put out by The Fellowship of St. James. Each day the reader is provided with morning and evening Psalms, a Gospel reading, a New Testament reading, and a chapter out of the Old Testament.
I think if you put some form of Christian meditation or Psalm/ Scripture reading into your morning routine, it’s also a good idea to remind yourself that this practice in no way grants you special favor with God. It does not put God into your debt as if he now owes you something because of your “great commitment and resolve.” He is not obligated to you now that you’ve move him up in your list of priorities and are “giving him the first part of your day.”
Actually, the opposite is true. The way I see it, it’s a healthy sign in which we are acknowledging our weakness and need. Implementing this sort of discipline into our life provides a channel to repent daily and receive God’s forgiveness. I like to think of it as my “daily intervention” and spiritual formation to the degree that I do it daily.
There are three more items in Tim Ferris’s list of morning activities for you to consider. I’ll write about them next week.
Thanks for reading!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
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