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This book reached out and grabbed me from the first word of the first chapter. Because I thought that I was the only person in the universe who thought that I was maybe idolizing my husband instead of God. See, I have this awesome husband who (after more than 20 years now!) still treats me like a princess. He kind of spoils me rotten. He protects me, takes care of me, provides for me. He changes light bulbs and kills bugs. He calls every day from work and says, “Would you like for me to pick up something for dinner?” He’s kind of perfect. And there’s the rub. I’ve always had this little voice in the back of my mind that says, “You enjoy him way too much. You adore him way too much. You love him way too much. You should save all that for God, and God alone.”
This book delves into these exact issues – what do we do to square our enjoyment of earthly things with the Biblical truth that says to concentrate on the heavenly? The Bible itself even seems to be contradictory in places regarding these issues, but this great book gives you some great context and how to understand why these scriptures are, in fact, not contradictory at all.
You will learn a new phrase, “Christian Hedonism”. I’m not going to tell you what it actually means – it would take way too long and this author does it a lot better.
What this book is NOT, is a treatise on how God wants you to have everything you want. You know – you’ve heard those “Name it and Claim it” preachers. Of course God wants us to fully enjoy what He has provided, but it’s important that you see these things for what they are. God wants us to gladly receive everything that He has graciously provided for our enjoyment. But what if we enjoy things so much that we are distracted from the heavenly?
Are you someone who feels guilty when you think you’ve been ‘overly’ blessed? Do you feel undeserving? That idea, in and of itself, is not Biblical. If God provided it, and decided that you deserve it, who are you to disagree?
This book is not an easy, breezy read. It’s deeply theological. You can’t read it in one gulp (if you really want to understand it). But it’s worth your time. Because chances are, you have struggled with issues of the ‘Things of Earth’. We all have.
Here’s what Family Christian’s website says about this book:
God certainly knows how to give good gifts to his children.
But where is the line when it comes to enjoying all the pleasurable things our world affords? In The Things of Earth, professor Joe Rigney offers perplexed Christians a breath of fresh air by lifting the burden of false standards and impossible expectations related to the Christian life–freeing readers to gratefully embrace every good thing we receive from the hand of God.
Helping us avoid our tendency to forget the Giver on the one hand and neglect his gifts on the other, this much-needed book reminds us that God’s blessings should drive us to worship and that a passion for God’s glory can be as wide as the world itself.
Things of Earth is available at Family Christian Stores.
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