Richard Foster is a modern legend among those familiar with
the field of spiritual formation in Christianity. Classics such as Celebration of Discipline
and Streams of Living Water have been staple works for those seeking to
further their journey's with God by positioning themselves for transformation
before God through historic spiritual disciplines. With grace, honesty, and
knowledge, Foster always writes practical, deep, and 'God-encountering' works
that assist people on their everyday journey with God.
In Life with God, Foster continues to write practical
ways of experiencing everyday life with God, this time through reading the
Bible in ways that expect to encounter the living God the Scriptures talk about
and point to. Spiritual practices such
as lectio divina (reading the Bible spiritually) are discussed in detail, so
much so that those experienced and inexperienced alike can learn and use the
method simply by reading and following Foster's steps.
However, for me the most insightful part of Foster's work was
the final part "Understanding the Means." Within this section, Foster discusses the
process of being spiritually transformed by God through reading the Bible and
through spiritual disciplines. It was in
this section that I quickly began to tab down page after page, highlighting one
liner after one liner of spiritually potent thoughts that will shape this part
of my Christian journey.
One such one liner was this: "Let's be clear on what
discipline is: the ability to do the right thing at the right time for the
right reason. This is not the same as
the ability to accomplish the desired result through human effort. God is the One who brings about our inward
transformation into Christ likeness" (136). Foster's intent behind this passage is potent
and applies to the entirety of our walks with Christ. It is not the mere act of
sitting down and reading our Bible's every day, or reading twice a week, that
will make us like Christ. No - if we
force ourselves to read the Bible every day, we mine as well be reading the
local newspaper for all the good it will do us.
Instead, we must read the Bible with our hearts open to God,
expecting a radical encounter with Christ. This will not look the same
every time, nor be of the same intensity, but we read with the hunger to
experience and continue our relationship with God, not to simply press
through the routine. (This is not to say
there is not a time to persevere in daily readings in our Dark Nights, but I
digress...)
One Line Summary: If
you are in need of encounters with Christ through the Bible, buy this book, read it,
and keep it on the bookshelf to re-read.
Foster does a fabulous job of helping readers explore the Bible with new
eyes - this book is good enough to keep!
Book Reviewed: Richard Foster. Life with God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2008.
