This book is for you because it speaks to our common human condition. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart” is the clarion warning from the book of Hebrews. What was said two millennia ago is just as relevant today.
Life in a fallen world can be a merciless and perilous place. The race we began has more twists and turns than we could have ever imagined. The temptation to draw back, give up, walk away, and create a new kind of truth is every person’s temptation.
To walk with Jesus is a death walk, which sounds less demanding when read from the Bible than lived in life. The process of shrinking back from a cross carrying life begins in imperceptible ways. You may not even recognize your own drifting from the truth of God.
This book can re-calibrate your soul while transforming the life you live with others in God’s world. It won’t be easy. Through these pages, you will see how God’s grace has been effectively appropriated in your life, but there will be other areas where you’ll “hear His voice” appealing to you to not exchange His truth for a lie.
If there is any sense of the LORD’s conviction through reading this book, then I appeal to you to stop at that point and zero-in on those areas where change is needed. At the end of each chapter, I have call to action (CTA) opportunities for you to self-reflect and self-assess. Take time to do this. Here are a few ways you can make the most of this book:
Read prayerfully and expectantly as you move from page to page.
Journal your thoughts, even if it’s from sentence to sentence. Don’t casually pass by or dismiss the ah-ha moments. You’re not in a race to finish this book. Sanctification is a process, as much as it can be a series of events.
Take your time. Perhaps your device allows you to highlight sentences and make notes inside the book. Go for it.
Take your thoughts to the LORD. Ask Him to help you see what you can’t see.
Finally, share what you are learning with a friend. The teacher will always learn more than the student, and if you share your sanctification reflections, you will begin to own them. Make the truths the LORD gives you through this book your own.
My prayer is that many people will be called back to their first love while others will be motivated to make ever-so-slight tweaks in their lives so they can be re-tuned to the sweet applications of the Canon and its Author.
It is a joy to serve you. I’m so glad you’re reading this book. May the LORD of all keep you abiding in His truth while mercifully guarding you against the dangerous exchange.
Grace and peace,
Rick
