Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Book Review--Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ by John Piper

People demonstrate how important something is to them by how they treat it. For instance, someone who says spending time with their family is important but they spend time doing anything but spending time with their family demonstrates where their priorities truly lie. In much the same way, Christians who profess that Christ is their Savior and Lord but live lives that are not in line with that profession exhibit a severe disconnect between what they say and what they mean. It is this problem that John Piper's book "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ" was meant to address. In fact, the author writes that his intent is that the reader "see him [Christ] as solid truth and savor him with great joy".

The point that Piper makes in the book is that the kind of seeing he wants us to do of Christ, seeing with spiritual eyes, will lead to savoring Christ as being supremely valuable. In the chapters of the book, he proceeds to outline some of the majestic biblical truths that should make Christ someone who, upon really seeing Him, we should also savor Him. In a world of 2 minute highlight reels and blazing fast 3G downloads, Piper calls us in this book to take a long, deep look into scripture to see what it says about Jesus Christ and then calls us to respond.

Each of the chapters invites the reader to meditate upon one facet of Christ's glory and then includes a prayer to pray as one reflects on the truth. The chapters are short enough that they could be read in one sitting and mentally "munched on" for the rest of the day. The reader is challenged with truths such as The Excellence of Jesus Christ (Chapter 3) or The Desecration of Jesus Christ (Chapter 7--my personal favorite. Each of these rich truths offers another insight into the marvelous character and majesty of our Lord.

I would highly recommend this book to any Christian who wants to grow in their love for the Lord. I believe you will be greatly blessed.

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