In today’s fast-pace, always on-the-go culture, the search for something more simplistic in life is appealing. Life is busy. If I could find an extra hour to squeeze out of each day, I would love to know how. And it’s in that busyness of life, that if I’m not careful, the one thing that becomes sacrificed is my daily pursuit of God.
Pastor Mark Batterson, of National Community Church in Washington DC, addresses the way we pursue and spend time with the Lord in his latest book, Primal. Primal is a call to return to the basics of Christianity; for us to seek to be great at the Great Commandment. Batterson believes that many have fallen into the trap where they look at their relationship with God through logic alone, which leads to a limited view of God based on their understanding. Instead he challenges us to forget trying to figure God out and to “return to the things we did at first” (Revelation 2:5).
Primal breaks the Great Commandment down into four parts: compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power. If we are going to “Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength,” as Jesus tells us to, we need to stop putting God in the boxes we create and begin living in a way that allows us to love God through his understanding of love, not ours.
This book is an easy read, however very thought provoking. It addresses a multitude of topics regarding life and how we live it, including a number of real-life stories. Batterson lays out his thoughts about living primal in a manner that allows you to grasp his ideas.
As the year comes to a close, this book is timely. I know there are questions and pieces of it that I still need to process, but I look forward to seeing what possible ways I can begin to apply this book’s ideas to challenge me as 2010 begins. For anyone looking for a good book to remind you about loving God in the daily grind, Primal is definitely worth your time.
Subscribe