I think there's a difference between a love of learning and a lust for knowledge. There's a kind of greediness that I sense if I do not watch myself when reading. I need to ask, when I get sucked into the black hole of knowledge--what is worth knowing? 

I need to keep in mind--- 
I can know all things and fail to love, 
I can know all things and miss wisdom,
I can know all things and fail concerning my life's calling,
and I can lose my ability to learn and think without warning--but that does not take away from my worth or identity or how much the Father loves me. 

Knowledge must be put into perspective.

Knowledge must also be applied by the Spirit--how else can it be affected into my life? To have my mind be full and nothing rearranged would be a waste. To chew one's dinner for days and never swallow won't fill one's stomach. 

There's a feeling of comfort in learning through books. The walls are padded there: you may experience regret, disgust, shame, guilt, and exhilaration--but then when you put the book down, you remember the pillow propped behind your back, and the five layers of cotton and polyester swaddled around you. A book may disturb you like a bad dream, but you can always open your eyes and remember you never left your bed.

To live, to experience, to inhabit, to "step outside"--that is what is truly terrifying.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."-JRR Tolkien

But, of course, it is not only terrifying--it is also a lot of hard work. Sometimes it is hard because it is strenuous, and requires sacrifice and setting up boundaries for yourself that deny yourself pleasure, and sometimes it is hard because it is entirely mundane. But of course, to view something as "mundane" and to regard it as insignificant because it doesn't appear glamorous or exciting or meaningful--that denies the teaching of the Bible. The seemingly small obediences are seen by God, and we are destined for the return of Jesus. We aren't wandering in circles in the wilderness, we are traveling to the Promised Land.