The Christian Bookshelf

One of the most popular desires among people is to own their own business. And I think that most of the time what people desire to "sell" is product that is based off something they love, something they believe people need, and obviously the money they can make. Depending on the person; the order of importance and ratio of how important each of these three things are - may fall differently - but my assumption is that this is a good summary.

I have always thought I would like to own a Christian bookstore (but I don't think God has this plan for me). Sometimes I find myself thinking about what would be some of the choices that I would make if I did. For me, the first thing would be "which books would/should I carry?" - I wouldn't want to sell books that have a message that is in contradiction to sound doctrine (and many "Christian books" are). Then I think, truly the one book that Christians should be reading - is the Bible. And I kinda chuckle at the thought of customers entering a "Christian bookstore" only to find shelves full of nothing but Bibles :)

Well, in the same thought; my mind has taken a small step to another area - how much of my study comes from books about the Bible rather than the source itself? I look at my bookshelf and I have many many good books. Books I am grateful to have read, and have touched me, and helped me with understanding, and have helped me grow in my Christian walk (one of my favorites is Way of The Master by Ray Comfort). Even so, all this should at most be secondary. Yes I have the Bible on my shelf (actually I have several) - but the question we should ask is "How sufficient is it?"

So my thought today is what does your Christian bookshelf look like, and should it look like this:



Now I want to clear up that I am not against Christian books (as I have said I have many - and many have been used in my life). I am just trying to say that we need to not just "consider the source" - we need to rely on the source.

2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: