"Simple words, profound impact."

A thought by Zig Zigler, from his book, Better Than Good (p. 55). Thomas Nelson, Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

And that is what we need and want, isn't it?

Zig says, "The pen has always been mightier than the sword and can move people to action like nothing else. In my Sunday school class there was a young woman who was struggling with several critical issues in her life. She told me later how a few simple things I said in that class—'Failure is an event, not a person'; 'Yesterday really did end last night'; 'God not only permits U-turns in life, He encourages them'—opened up whole new vistas of possibility for her. Simple words, profound impact.

He goes on, "If words have that big an impact on our lives, why don’t we work harder to fill our minds with the most profound words we can? The Bible says we ought to dwell on (think and meditate on) things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise (see Philippians 4:8). And yet most of what we read is far from those standards."

He continues, "Besides the Bible, I encourage people to consume one category of inspiring thoughts above all others: the biographies of great men and women. Andy Andrews is one of the most godly, inspiring men I’ve ever met. Reading biographies changed his life and the lives of thousands of other people.

"Andy’s mother died when he was nineteen, and his father was killed shortly thereafter in a car crash. He was homeless for a while and even considered suicide after a string of bad choices left him looking for a reason to live. He began spending a lot of time in the public library, where he read biographies, searching for clues as to what characterized successful people.

"The result of more than two hundred biographies he read was The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions That Determine Personal Success. He was turned down by fifty-one publishers (I think he decided perseverance was one of the characteristics of successful people!) before a publisher accepted his manuscript. His book stayed on the New York Times’ best-seller list for seventeen weeks. He told the story of a fictional character traveling back in time and conversing with seven successful individuals about the meaning of life and how to find success."

Zig then says, "Andy credits the reading of the Bible and those two hundred biographies with filling his mind with the seeds for accomplishment. Think what the world would have missed if he had chosen to fill his mind with less noble thoughts!"

I love to read. It has really made a major difference in my life. How about you, have you found reading, especially the Bible to be what you have needed to make your life better than good? If you haven't why not start today. Okay?

Yes, yes!