a book in a day.

i am not a huge reader by any means, at least not in comparison to my sisters. but i do enjoy reading. i am the type that either gets so sucked into a book that i can't put it down, or i won't read it at all. the other day i noticed a book on my parents coffee table - it was opened up to about the middle of the book with the pages down - so i picked it up to see what book it was to determine who i thought was reading it. 'just do something' by kevin de young. it could have been either of my parents really, but seeing as it was found on the coffee table and not by the "throne" (as jay has recently labeled the chair my dad sits in), i could safely assume it was being read by my mom. so i picked it up to analyze the cover a bit more, since i as i have confessed in the past, i do judge books by their covers. the cover offered more explanation: a liberating approach to finding God's will. that alone got my attention. i have thought a lot in the past few years about God's will and have had many conversations with various people about God's will in general, but God's will for my life more specifically. plus i have already read a kevin de young book in the past and appreciate his writing style but also the content that he offers. with the exception of the few pages i read that day, i read the entire thing today. what says recommendation more than that?

so i could try to sum up all the great things he has to say, but it would be a failed attempted. i could just say, hey go read the book, but you might not. so for your benefit, and mine since i want to look back at things from it, i will leave you with some of his words...

(possibly my favorite part) "the question God cares about most is not 'where should i live?' but 'do i love the Lord with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind, and do i love my neighbor as myself?'"

(in reference to him praying about whether to stay at his church or take another call) "i prayed a lot about the decision. but i didn't ask God to tell me what to do. so what did i pray for? i prayed that God would make me honest in my interviews. i prayed that i would see a true picture of this church and that they would see a true picture of me. i prayed mostly that my heart would be right, that i wouldn't be motivated by pride - either to stay because it was a big church or to move because i could be the senior pastor. i prayed that i wouldn't make a decision based on fear: 'what if i fail as a senior pastor?' 'what if everyone in iowa gets mad at me for going?' or pleasing people: 'i don't want t let down the search committee that's been working at this for so long.' (and here comes the best part...) i prayed that i would make a decision based on faith, hope, and love - and not the praise of man and greed and selfish ambition. in other words, i prayed that i would be following God's will of desire rather than praying to figure out His will of direction."

"first, God's will is that we live holy, set-apart lives...second, we are to always rejoice, pray, and give thanks...third, we are to know God's will so we can bear fruit and know Him better...fourth, the will of God is to be filled with the Holy Spirit...simply put, God's will is your growth in Christlikness."