Manning has me convinced…I am important to God. It is astounding to me that I am a higher priority to God than often times He is to me. That is sad but too true. It is such a brutal correction to our twisted thinking that if God had anything to do with fury toward us that it would result in punishment. Manning has me convinced that God’s love and longing for all people has a furious component to it. It is just that intense. I don’t know if I would call it reckless, as Manning does (p.30). But then again, maybe it is reckless. It is hard to call a crucified Lord anything but that. It is hard to envision Jesus on the cross and think of the words tame, mundane, and ho-hum. As I read this book, I cannot help but think about the movie Taken and the intense and furious nature of the longing of a father for his child. He is willing to go to whatever lengths, even dangerous lengths, to make sure we are able to live with him forever.
What also strikes me about this book is Manning’s intense honesty. He is not afraid to talk about God the way he has experienced Him. He is also not afraid to expose his life in brutal honesty for what it is, even in all its weakness. I admire that about him. I look forward to opening my eyes over the next hundred or so pages to see just how much God loves me. If there is one thing I have learned about God’s love for me it is that the song “Jesus Loves Me” doesn’t do it justice. I don’t know God or Jesus loves me just because I read about it in the Bible. I am sure many of you would agree with me in saying that I know it is true because I have experienced it first hand.
For more on this excellent book see Jim Martin’s post from today. More to come…
To purchase this book click here – The Furious Longing of God
