Discovering God in Stories from the Bible

This lovely little book reminds the reader of the attributes of God by telling some wonderful Bible stories. However, it is more than a mere storybook, for there are many challenges to the reader to consider who God is and what their discipleship should be like in the light of this revelation.

Ryken begins by suggesting that we as Christians have lost our enthusiasm for knowing God. After all there is the world of difference between knowing there is a God and knowing who God is. The charge is that we have an unworthy concept of who God is. We are interested in too many other things. We want to be entertained rather than enlightened, distracted rather than discipled. He attempts to rekindle our enthusiasm for knowing God (or perhaps to inspire us for the first time) because 'Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continuing investigation of the great subject of the deity' (Charles Haddon Spurgeon). Ryken's style is uncomplicated. Each chapter begins with a reflection containing some doctrinal teaching, cleverly written so as not to be too heavy. He then illustrates his point by retelling one of the great Bible stories and in his thirteen chapters brings the reader to a closer understanding of God.

I suggest the book may be used in different ways. There are benefits as a straightforward read but also as a devotional book for individual or group use. I have used it as a preaching help. There is a useful scripture index. It is ideal for those new to the faith because there is sound teaching as well as an excellent tour of the Bible, allowing those who are new to the Word to marvel at its t content. It is also for those of us t who have been reading the Word for a longer time because we are never too old to read of God's love for us.