"Grace For The Moment" by Max Lucado

GRACE FOR THE MOMENT from Max Lucado is a devotional book, classified as ‘inspirational thoughts for each day of the year’.  For those unfamiliar with devotional books, this refers to a collection of one-page readings based upon a selected Bible verse for the day.  Devotions are used to either facilitate a more lengthy study of the Bible, or to offer a quick bit of inspiration for those people always on the go.

This particular devotional book is written with enough fundamental simplicity anyone, whether following specific Christian dogma or not, can benefit.

None of it will be over anyone head, though some of it relies on trite Christian metaphor that can come across as sounding too shallow for the ‘wading-into-deep-waters’ seekers of the truth.

And yet, there in lies part of this little book’s charm.  It offers shallow enough water (to employ my own use of metaphor) for safe treading of one’s feet so as to never threaten the inexperienced swimmers of the ocean’s deeper waves.  There is no undercurrent here to pull a hapless adventurer down too deep, too quickly.  GRACE FOR THE MOMENT is an invitation for those yet to come, a reminder for those who have already swum in those deep waters and now stand, alongside the timid newcomer, upon the shore.

They Couldn’t Forget Him, the entry for May 21^st, poetically depicts the imagery of the disciples after Jesus was gone.  They saw His compassion whenever they encountered a leper.  When a storm came out of the skies, they remembered when He stilled one and brought to them peace.  When a lamb was taken to the temple for sacrifice, his blood-stained face and broken body flashed vividly to their minds.  They could not forget Him.

Remember to Rest.  Jesus did.  In fact, as the February 4^th entry surmises, with one week remaining to live, He never frantically crammed teachings and miracles into his last Sabbath.  Rather, He used His last Sabbath on earth to rest and worship.  Find that difficult to believe when your own day always runs short of time?  Look it up for yourself. See whether you can find something Jesus did on that day.  Max Lucado never did.

Fretting is Futile.  While most of GRACE FOR THE MOMENT is encouraging inspiration (no heavy-handed theological discourse to digest), there is teaching, such as the October 20^th entry, which addresses that nagging habit of worry.  Here Lucado enlightens one on the meaning of the original Greek word (in which the New Testament was written) and how it literally means “to divide the mind”.  Worry divides the mind; anxiety fractures our energies. Troubling oneself over what may happen takes away from the energy we need to focus upon what does happen today.

There is a little bit of something here for everyone.  For those already blessed by the teaching of Max Lucado, this book will be a daily reinforcement of things already learned.  For those who have heard nothing of the man, this endeavor will deliver inspiration and encouragement, as well as a bit of education, for each day of the year.  The Christian faith is presented in non-threatening terms anyone, whether a swimmer in the clichés of religious waters or not, can imbibe. 

It is a testament to the GRACE FOR THE MOMENT offered to any and to all.