BECOMING A GREAT READER
“…I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem” Daniel 9:2
The desire to read and the habit of reading are qualities that you must cultivate and possess at all cost. This is because “Reading maketh a complete man”. It has been aptly captured, you are what you read. Reading informs you and reforms you. It helps in your mental formation, your psychological formation, your character formation, your ideas formation, and your outlook formation. However, nothing is formed in you when you do not read. Students who are poor readers and slow readers are the worst culprits in examination malpractices, cultism and other temptations and vices. Reading brings confidence. In fact if it is true that “knowledge is power” then reading, the major source of knowledge, is the great power generator. Unfortunately, the great benefits of reading remain untapped or underutilized within the brain of many. On the other hand, reading brings acquisition of knowledge. It promotes creativity and innovativeness. Becoming a great reader therefore could be one of your greatest achievements as a youth. And, happily, the secrets are simple:
· Develop the appetite for reading daily.
· Design a time, first for all your school subjects and fix other readings in your leisure hours.
· Devote the time wasted on the T.V, idle talk, partying, unprofitable web browsing, or video games to reading.
· Decide how many books you will read this year and break down the time into months, especially the holiday period.
· Dedicate all the money planned for paying “mercenaries”, or examiners to good reading and study aid and revision texts.
· Desire to be a great reader before God in prayers.
· Discipline yourself to a regimen of healthy reading, avoiding dirty and suggestive literature.
Challenge: Much reading and learning set Paul achieving much for his dream mission above all in his generation.
Prayer: Oh Lord, give me this day, my daily reading desire.