In the Margins - 1/7/26

Things I Read

I've got a number of things that I'm reading right now. I've started over my Bible reading plan, and I'm doing the McCheyne reading plan this year. In fiction, I'm reading a book called Theo of Golden, and I'm thinking it's going to turn out to be quite a remarkable story. I'm reading D.A. Carson's devotional called For the Love of God. I'm also reading a book called Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, which provides a snapshot into the work lives of about 150 different artists (writers, painters, etc). I’ve also begun meandering through a book called Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, by Ethan Mollick.

Things I Listened To

I don't think I've listened to anything other than background jazz in 2026 so far.

Things I Watched

I watched the first Dune. Enjoyable.

Things I Thought

I've been thinking about how holding back from Christ, in any way, is holding on to death. True life and joy and blessing is found not in trying to retain life for ourselves, but in giving it away for him. A basic truth to understand; a lifetime to really learn it.

Quotes to Ponder

"We can preach nothing else as the object of our faith... only Christ is the whole of man's happiness, the Sun to enlighten him, the Physician to heal him, the Wall of fire to defend him, the Friend to comfort him, the Pearl to enrich him, the Ark to support him, the Rock to sustain him under the heaviest pressure.... As Christ is more excellent than all the world, so this sight transcends all other sights; it is the epitome of a Christian's happiness, the quintessence of evangelical duties, Looking unto Jesus."

— Isaac Ambrose