“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
Ephesians 5:15-16
Every year around this time, like many others out there, I start to reflect on how the past 12 months have gone. Although I’ve never really been one to formalize goals (I tried that a few times, unsuccessfully), I do like to take inventory of what I’ve done, left undone, done poorly, or (on those rare occasions) done successfully, and think of how the coming year might serve as an opportunity to improve things. At this stage in my life, my greatest concern is living unwisely, squandering the days and hours I have left. Wisdom is the aim, and I want to make sure I’m doing those things which naturally lead to that end.
Despite the fact that we live with opportunity and access the likes of which no previous generation has ever seen, I would contend that it’s also, ironically, never been an easier time in history to waste one’s life. Distractions abound. Cheap comforts abound. That’s something that’s definitely not lost on me as I look at my own habits and reflect on how I allocate my time. It’s very easy to come home from work, get lost in chores, spend a few minutes with the kids before bed, only to then mentally check out, smartphone in hand, scrolling away the last few hours of a long day. Extrapolate this sort of behavior out to years, then to decades, and you get the idea. Knowing this to be the case, I’m trying to be as mindful as possible about how I utilize the time I’m given. It is, after all, a gift.
With that as a backdrop, and as a result of reflecting on all this, what’s become painfully clear to me is this: I need to be reading more. Now, I’m not talking here about reading anything, but honing in on those great works of Western Civilization. My focus is on those books that have stood the test of time and have been instrumental in forming the western world as we know it. And not reading from a tablet or my iPhone—but from a physical book. I know myself, and if there’s a distraction lurking somewhere, I’ll find it. No doubt about that.
So during 2025, I’ve decided that my goal is 1) to read 20 new books and 2) read through the entirety of the Bible. If the aim is to become wise, there can be no meaningful or genuine pursuit of it aside from the Bible. After all, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” 1
Since I’ve never been overly successful at implementing and sticking to goals, I’m adjusting my approach this go round. For my whole life (being a perfectionist, bordering on O.C.D.) I’ve carried the notion that these kinds of goals have to be met 100% or, somehow, they don’t count. Naturally, this lends to not hitting the desired targets over the desired timeline and losing all motivation, eventually abandoning whatever goal I had set. So with that in mind, I’ve decided to focus on time increments, rather than a specific outcome. And I’m starting small. Really small.
Each day, to help hit my reading goals, I’m going to be allocating 30 minutes to reading, broken up as follows:
- 15 Minutes of Bible Reading
- 15 Minutes of “Other” Reading
There’s no set requirement for how many pages or chapters I get through—just that there is a specified amount of time where my focus is solely on reading. As long as the time allocation is met, that’s what will qualify as a “win” for the day, the new definition of “success”. My hope is that the rest should take care of itself. I suspect it will.
I’ve settled on increments of 15 minutes because 15 minutes represents 1% of one day. That’s not a lot. However, over the course of a week, if I stick to that schedule, I can be sure to have spent 1 hour and 45 minutes reading the bible, and 1 hour and 45 minutes reading the books I hope to get through in 2025.
Having read for 3 hours and 30 minutes each week is not bad. Not bad at all.
Every thing we choose to do in life should have a strong “why” behind it. As I’ve thought about that in context of my reading goals, I’ve had to ask myself that question: why do this?
John Adams, concluding a letter to his son John Quincy wrote the following:
“You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen. This will ever be the sum total of the advice of your affectionate father.” 2
John Adams, May 18, 1781
That quote has stuck with me ever since I read it years ago, and answers that question perfectly. We all have a duty to utilize the gifts and abilities we’ve been given, for the purpose of becoming maximally effective in benefitting those around us. We have a duty to study, to gain wisdom, and to improve ourselves, because those around us—those that depend on us—need that. Our wives need that. Our children need that. Our family, friends, co-workers, and community members need that.
In the final analysis, it’s not an exercise undertaken to benefit the self, to satisfy some intellectual curiosity or serve as a means to be prideful. It needs to be remembered that it’s an exercise in ensuring we can be wise and strong for those who count on us. It’s a labor taken up to be a blessing to others, and to honor God with the life he has given us.
So to that end, I’m hopeful for a productive, consistent 2025.