I just sent my Goddaughter a cute cartoon that showed someone curled up in an easy chair with a book in her hand. The caption read, “Drink your coffee, read your books, it’s chaos out there.”

I am thinking that might be great advice for all of us this Monday morning, especially the part about reading books. Did you know that the average American reads 200-400 words per minute? And at that speed, we could all read about 200 books in any given year.

But we don’t. In fact, that average American (whoever he or she is) reads only 12 books a year. (At least we out read the Brits, they only read 10 a year.) Sadly, almost 50% of college graduates never read a book after college.

And when we do read, its mostly fiction. The most commonly read book genres are mystery/thriller, science fiction/fantasy and the ever-popular romance. And the stuff we read is written at a very low level. 50% of us cannot read a book written at an eighth-grade level.

But if you had a guess, how much time do you think that average American spends on social media each year? The number is 705 hours. And we lay in front of a TV set some 2,737 hours a year.

As one writer put it, “We have all the time we need to read. The scary part is that we are too addicted, too weak and to distracted to do what we all know is important.” (Charles Chu)

Paul told us in Ephesians 5:15-16 to make the best use of our time. And I am suggesting that reading would be a great way to do just that. Apparently reading for just 6 minutes can reduce stress levels by 68%. It can help improve our sleep quality and increase our mental focus and concentration.

Besides all of that, being an active reader helps us with our study of God’s Word. If we enjoy sitting with a book in our hands, it is much more likely that we will enjoy our time spent perusing the scriptures.

So, this week, grab a book. Read for pleasure. Read to learn something. Read to “visit” another time or another country. Read to get better at reading. And then read His Word with enthusiasm. He loves to communicate with us!