*Disclaimer- I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review- all opinions are my own! This post may contain affiliate links*
This month’s Book Review is another great Bible Study that I came across and can’t wait to share with you. Come With Me: Discovering the Beauty of Following Where He Leads by Suzanne Eller is a look at the lives of Jesus’s disciples and how we can apply what they learned to our modern day problems. Suzanne asks us to take a journey back in time to when these men gave up everything to follow their Savior, and asks us whether or not we would do the same.
I love this book, because it’s like the author is sitting next to you, sharing a cup of coffee and just talking with you. Her life stories are so well applied to each situation it’s more like a conversation than reading a traditional Bible Study- don’t get me wrong, I love every Bible Study, but this one was more like a chat with an old friend.
Suzanne Eller touches on tough subjects, but does so with such grace and eloquence. One of her chapters, “Loving People You Don’t Want to Love,” completely wrecked my life. Especially in a world where so many people think that Christians dislike everyone that doesn’t share in their beliefs, it’s a reminder that Jesus called us to love: to love people who are difficult, people who are different from you, because people are watching our lives and asking if Jesus is worth following. She reminds us that loving others was what Jesus was all about,
“Maybe you fear loving people who are different from you because it might mean that you agree with or condone their sin. It’s the exact opposite. We believe in the power of God’s love. That’s what led Jesus to cross the street. He was doing the business of the father.”
This has been something that God has been revealing to me in my own life very much over the past month- that the greatest of the commandments is love. To love your Father first and to love your neighbor as yourself. Your drunk neighbor, gay neighbor, homeless neighbor, difficult neighbor, foreign neighbor- it doesn’t matter. We show them ALL love.
Another chapter that really spoke to me was, funnily enough, the chapter focusing on Judas Iscariot. We think of him as a bad guy, which he definitely ended up being, but he didn’t start out that way. He was one of the chosen few asked to follow and teach others about Jesus. He was loved by the other disciples, something just happened to him that caused him to do evil things. Suzanne points out how this can happen to any of us because of discontent. “Temptation begins in the small things and burrows in to create discontent.”
Think about it. People who cheat on their spouses don’t set out to do so. They become discontent in their marriage and temptation slips in. The same with drug addicts or alcoholics. Unhappiness causes small temptations to lead to bigger ones, and before you know it you’re over your head in the deep end. “Discontentment sneaks in, we hold it close and feed it, and it spreads like cancer.” But, Suzanne also gives us the tools to battle this discontent- by living a life of thank-you.
“He [Satan] dares to stir up discontentment in our deepest relationships, and we find the good in the heart of that person. He tries to stir up discontentment in our ministry, and we find solutions for the problem instead. He tries to stir up discontentment in our faith, and we point to a bloodied cross and an open tomb.”
I don’t want to give away too much of the book, because you need to grab a copy for yourself and dig in. It’s truly a book that has changed my life and some of my ways of thinking. I am thankful I had the chance to read it, and to share the author’s message with you.
If you have any questions about it- feel free to ask. I love sharing my favorite books with my favorite people!
Don’t forget to Follow Along with my Reading Challenge and tag #ReadWithMrsBishop.
