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Oh, no!

College is full of reading. Even math courses have textbooks (at sixty bucks a pop!). You're required to read, read, and read some more! How can those professors expect you to read so much? Don't they realize that nobody wants to sit down with Introduction to Psychology, especially after watching Friends? Well, they know something that few people remember: reading is communication of ideas, and ideas change people and the world.

Just think of some authors who have written world-changing books: Charles Darwin, The Origin of the Species; Karl Marx, Das Kapital; Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle. These great thinkers have changed the world with their ideas (uh, well . . .). In fact, most of the ideas we will run across are in print. Even the Internet requires plenty of reading just to get around.

In college you will have tons of required reading for your courses. That's okay -- read critically and learn all you can. But there is some reading you can do which is not required but which is much more vital to your life. Read your Bible. God's Word is full of what we need to live. Read Psalm 1 and discover "Happy are those [who] delight in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water . . ." (Psalm1:1a, 2-3a). Soak it up! It's great stuff that God will use in your life.

When thinking of other things to read, consider Christian books that are written to help you deal with your world. At InterVarsity Press^® (IVP^®) we specialize in providing books that demonstrate the Lordship of Christ over all things. So, if you'd like to share Christ with your roommate but feel totally inadequate, read Speaking of Jesus by I-V staffer Mack Stiles. Or if your hormones are raging, and you wonder if God "blessed" you with a double dose, try Robbie Castleman's True Love in a World of False Hope. Or if you're getting put down in science class or by the physics majors down the hall, check out Phillip Johnson's Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds. Check with your staff worker to find out which books she or he likes the best -- and how to get them at a discount!

So if you feel like you're reading too much, take a look at what you're reading. You probably shouldn't trash your course books, but exercise discernment. Choose books that not only help you make the grade, but also those that help transform you further into the image of Christ.
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See also "Books that Every Leader Should Know"