Finish Strong, Walk by Faith
Once again another year is winding down. Christmas Eve is a great day for both reflection and anticipation, thinking back over the last year and beginning to dream about what God might do in your life in the coming year. Next week I will list my top books of 2025, but this week I want to make a case for why you should read more in 2026.
I think one of the easiest ways for a Christian to grow is to be reading great Christian books. The books I will feature will all be ones that will help you grow spiritually. I know many struggle to find time to read, but it’s worth the effort to make it a priority. Prioritizing reading is as much about blocking out distractions as anything else. That’s why Colby is going to lead us in an initiative in March to help reduce distractions in our life.
When you receive next week’s midweek and see the reading list, my encouragement would be to pick one book from the list to read in the next year. Then set a goal for how many pages a day you will read, and commit to not looking at any social media or news of any kind (phone, computer, TV) until you’ve read those pages for the day. If you haven’t been in the practice of reading regularly, then ten pages a day might be a good starting point. Most books are 200 pages or so. If you read ten pages a day, you’d read a book in twenty days. By following this approach, you could easily read twelve books next year. If ten pages sounds like too many, how about five? Or what about two or even just one? Pick a number that works for you to help you get started building a new habit. Here’s a couple of book ideas that you can start with if you can’t wait till next week.
JONAH: In the month of January we will be studying the book of Jonah. Tim Keller has a great little book on Jonah that is easy to read and full of practical insights called Rediscovering Jonah. It’s a great companion book for studying Jonah on your own.
PRAYER: Apart from reading the Bible daily, I think the main way our church will grow in our ability to walk by faith in 2026 is by an increased commitment to personal prayer. Tim Keller’s book on Prayer was a huge encouragement to me and has awakened a renewed burden for prayer in my life, especially as I practice daily praying through the Lord’s Prayer. I even saw one of my prayers answered this week as I prayed every day for no fire alarms on Christmas Sunday!
dGROUPS: One way I’ve tricked myself into reading is by joining a study group. This provides encouragement, accountability, and help with understanding. A number of our dGroups are offering some fantastic books this session. In fact, I think the session we’re kicking off January 7th has the most robust offerings we’ve had during my time at Valley View. Thank you Chad Greathouse for organizing these classes! Three books that are being studied in these groups are Understanding God’s Word, (a class taught by Tyler Starnes and Pastor John), The Meaning of Marriage, and Street Smarts (our Worldview and apologetics offering this session).
Be sure to sign up for a dgroup and come early for some of the finest food you can find in Louisville.
I fell short of my reading goal for 2025, yet I still read quite a bit and I felt good about the books I selected this year. I focused more on books that help build my Christian walk. I’m praying God gives you wisdom as to what you read and study this year. Even if you think you are not a reader, in reality EVERYONE reads quite a bit every single day, it’s just that most of us choose to read things in small bites through social media posts. I bet if you added up all the words you read in a day, it would possibly even add up to a small book!
It’s time to take control of what you read and make sure you’re feeding your heart with the things that will draw you closer to Christ all throughout the day. What a great way to start 2026, and a great way for Valley View to become better at bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the South End of Louisville!