"So, let me ask you: Is he the supremely honored center of your being? Is he the incomparable, unparalleled, unrivaled sun around whom your life orbits? You know that he won't be unless you intentionally and consistently correct your heart. Without conscious effort he'll slip from his rightful throne and in his place will spring up idols of sinful desires or even splendid vices, those good works we think we're doing for him but are actually using as a way to avoid him." (p. 188)
We finish out our Because He Loves Me book study in consideration of how to persevere in the hope we have in Christ...how we continue in our "first love."
Praise be to the Lord! It is he who is "blessing and keeping us. His face is shining upon us. He is being gracious to us. He has looked with love upon us and brought us peace...We've got shalom because his soul was crushed." (p. 192)
When we continually marvel and rest in that amazing Grace, we will remember our true identity as children, and not as hired servants; we will be motivated by love, not guilt.
Elyse Fitzpatrick leaves us with two final thoughts:
1. "We deprive ourselves of great happiness when we shy away from the gospel. Let me propose that you begin today to weave that name into everything you do." (p. 197)
2. "We struggle to incorporate the gospel into our speech and lives because the world is too much a part of us." We forget that this is not our home!
So, friends...I pray you have been encouraged through this study to truly engage the gospel, the wonderful truth of our forgiveness and redemption in Christ. I pray that you have been transformed, and can recognize the transformation as that of surrender and not of improvement; it's the adoption of a child, not a qualification of an employee.
Thank you so much for joining me these last 12 weeks! It has been a privilege to dig deep with you and to renew our minds with the truth of God's word. Thanks to Elyse Fitzpatrick for such a well-written book!
To celebrate the conclusion of this study, Crossway books has offered a fantastic giveaway! (You need not have participated in the study to enter! In fact, if you missed out, Because He Loves Me is one of the books included in the giveaway!)
Here's what the giveaway includes:
- Give Them Grace (Read my review of this book here.)
- Comforts from Romans: Celebrating the Gospel One Day at a Time
- Because He Loves Me
- Chocolate-Rose Trutone ESV Study Bible
That's a value of over $100!
a Rafflecopter giveaway //d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js