Classic Andrew Murray. Always drives me to despair and comfort at the same time. That God could love one such as I and gave His Son to prove it. He now deserves all in return.

For the first time in my life I understand what it means to be a Christian. Thank you Lord for bringing this author to me.

True rating: 3.5 stars

This was a hard one. Let's see why.

First of all, this book is beautiful. Beautifully written and beautifully designed. I love the cover, the texture of the pages, the margins suited for note taking, and the font.

The books is also extremely encouraging. We encounter passages like this one: "And that is what we should seek for —to go on our faces before God, until our hearts learn to believe that the everlasting God Himself will come in to turn our what is wrong, to conquer what is evil, and to work what is well-pleasing in His blessed sight. God Himself will work it in you." (5)

Amen! While I was reading I was encouraged to pray, to confess my sin, and to worship.

But, also, as I went on, I found my self thinking more and more "Yes, but..."

Murray kept encouraging the reader to surrender to God in a very abstract way. I couldn't picture how that would look in everyday life (after having your "quiet time", I mean). I felt something was missing. Somewhere (after Murray calls the reader to "bow down in nothingness") I noted: "Sometimes it feels like the author wants me to be a shell of a human."

And then, Murray mentioned the Keswick Convention. I was gifted this book and I hadn't heard anything about Murray before. I don't know much about the Higher Life movement, but I remembered I had seen the name "Keswick" somewhere. I went to my bookshelf and found this book (that I haven't read yet, I just had flipped through it). I got now that it was the Higher Life theology what wasn't clicking for me.

But that's okay, right? We don't have to agree with an author completely to profit from them. Besides, in the personal study questions, the editor mentions the Keswick Convention and encourages us to look it up and figure out what seems right and wrong about it. For that, I was going to lean toward the 4 star rating.

And then came the last chapter.

"[The branch] has no responsibility except just to receive from the root and stem sap and nourishment." (134)

"Must I understand that when I have to work, when I have to preach a sermon, or address a Bible class, or to go out and visit the poor, neglected ones, that all the responsibility of the work is on Christ?" (136)

Going back a few pages, Murray also says that "we must understand that faith is rest. In the beginning of the faith-life, faith is struggling; but as long as faith is struggling, faith has not attained its strenght." (126)

For this, I had to lean towards the 3 stars. I kept remembering about what the Bible says about the Christian life being a race, a battle, discipline, and something we have to work on empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Murray loved God and it shows. He made me want to run towards my Saviour everyday and surrender at every step of the way. But that's the thing, I have to keep taking those steps with responsibility, for His glory, knowing that He's the one that empowers me to take them.

Classic devotional reading.