The following is an edited email correspondence. We were discussing some of the books that this person should invest in to build a good library for his biblical and theological studies. The point of this blog entry is not about the particular books mentioned — as he kept on asking about different books, I had to make another suggestion.

One more thing: I am thinking of buying The Book Study Concordance of the Greek New Testament, by Kostenberger and Bouchoc.

Do you think this is worth the price ($39.99)? I only ask because I do have limited funds. Is it a good tool?

Thanks for the advice.

I replied:

I hesitate to tell you not to buy it, since I am sure there is something you can use in there. However, since you mentioned Mounce's Greek for the Rest of Us in a previous list, you should probably get that first. Or, if you do not yet have Berkhof, Turretin, or some of the others that I listed in a previous message, then get one of those first. Investing in a specific Greek references yields a much lower return than investing in major English works. Also, for Greek, I think you should also get Thayer's Lexicon.

Another piece of advice. You probably don't need it, but just in case.

You know that I think reading is extremely important, and I am obsessed with books, but sometimes the more spiritual thing to do is to use the $40 to take your wife to dinner, or buy her a gift. When you do that, you are not throwing anything away.

Ignore everything else and read the red part again. Do something special for your wife this week, and show her that you love her and think about her. Your primary concern should be for her sanctification (encourage her in prayer, study, and holiness), but it is also "spiritual" to remind her of your love by practical means.

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