Loving God

Colson is hardly an original thinker. His stories may be interesting, but they always follow the party line, so to speak. Bonhoeffer is a martyr (not), Job's wife is a nag (not), Mother Teresa is a saint (not). His writings are not for those who probe below the surface and test commonly held beliefs against the principles of scripture.

Since the early 1970s, I have not been prone to trust Chuck Colson, or any of his colleagues from the Nixon White House. Nevertheless, Colson: the convicted criminal and reprehensible politician, has given us one of the modern treasures of Christian devotional literature. Colson dares to say what must be said: that loving God with one's whole heart, and mind, and soul is not an essentially emotional event. Loving God has little to do with the heart. Instead Colson, courageously, declares that loving God is an act of the will. It is nothing less than complete obedience to God's revealed Word.Colson is intelligent enough to comprehend that such obedience is impossible. Still, he has the courage to uphold it as the model: the goal for all who call themselves by the name of Christ.In a world flailing in a swamp of competing values and rampant relativism, Colson has the strength to stand for the absolute sovereignty of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus. Perhaps, I and those like me, who cannot seem to forget Watergate, need to learn to forgive Colson. More importantly, perhaps we need to learn to listen to him.

Chuck Colson is a great story teller, and he gives many gripping illustrations of what it means to love God in our everyday lives. He then ties it in with relevant Scripture passages. It's a very engaging read, and you won't be disappointed with it.The big lesson I got from it is that loving God is not just something that we say with our lips. But it's something that we demonstrate with what we do with our time and with our lives. I was especially touched by the story of the woman who shows her love for God by donating her lunch hour every day to leading a prayer and Bible study time at a nearby prison. She has six kids at home. But she felt compelled to do something extra for Jesus each day. The book is full of examples like this, and it turned out to be very satisfying.

This book gives a simple, yet thorough summary of how to Love God. At the point of my life that I read it - it was crucial. Still one of the best books I have ever read

I have a relative in prison, and this book, with Colson's own prison experience, and its' stories of prisoners who overcame it all, was highly meaningful to me. The chapter looking at the story of the thieves who were crucified along next to Christ moved me to tears. I would recommend this book to any believer who wishes to deepen their relationship with the Lord.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love one another. While loving one another is not easy, at least it is somewhat tangible. However, loving a being that you cannot detect with your five physical senses such as God can seem almost impossible. Charles Colson, former Nixon henchman during the Watergate scandal and now current leader of Prison Ministries, writes a wonderful book about what it means to be a Christian and how we can learn to love God. Charles Colson is a gifted story teller who relates beautiful narratives about the truth of Christianity and the power of loving God. This is definitely a book that I highly recommend. It is in the top ten list of many Christians who have had the pleasure of reading it. God bless.