I have what I believe to be the typical pastor’s library. Each wall is covered with my books, which when I go to other offices, it seems similar. The one question I usually get from visitor’s when they first step into my office is, “Have you read all of these books?” And I must admit that part of me wans to answer, “Yes.” What a lie that would be, however. I probably have read a third of my books. Some of them are to be read. And some of them, I don’t think I’ll ever read (I have the Book of Mormon sitting in my office). And then there are those books that I call ‘reference books.’ Like the Physicians Desk Reference for doctors, who would rarely read the book from cover to cover, I use many books to help me with sermons and Bible study.

But I must say, in response to this question, usually that’s my first response, “I have read some and the rest are reference,” as if it was a Pavlovian reflex. It’s a defense against those who think I’m just keeping these books to make me look good. What if they were to ask me this question and I just merely said, “No, I haven’t read all of them,” and I left it at that? Would that be okay with my ego? I wonder. Why does such a simple question become so complex? Because my soul is covered with sin. And so I understand Paul in Romans 7:24: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Ahh, but here is the wonder of the Gospel in the next verse, “25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Thank you Lord for the Gospel!