Desire: The Journey We Must Take to Find the Life God Offers by John Eldredge
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I will not soon leave behind some of the impressions that this book made on me. Eldredge didn’t cover very much new territory in Desire, but his approach made it a very personal book in it’s delivery. So much of the book, other than the wonderful draw of quotes and illustrations, came across like a conversation with a counselor or friend.
A good portion of the book’s inspiration is drawn from the death of a good friend of the author and from that grief Eldredge dives into an exploration of the desires of our heart. Why are they there? Why are they so strong? Can we trust them? Will they ever truly be fulfilled? What do we do with them until they are?
The last several chapters laid out a wonderfully honest treatment of the perpetual longing that we will live with in this life, and then an encouraging challenge to not blunt those longings, but stir them up and let them drive and motivate us to pursue the Author of all true desire. The avoidance of a simple answer endeared me to Eldredge, helped me feel out just what he was saying, and also connected my heart with the message of the book.
In a poignant quote Eldredge almost summarizes the theme of this book:
“The fact is, at this point in our journey, we have only three options:(1) to be alive and thirsty, (2) to be dead, (3) to be addicted. There are no other choices. Most of the world lives in addiction; most of the church has chosen deadness. The Christian is called to the life of holy longing. But we don’t like to stay there.” (p 200)
I recommend this to anyone, those with questions about the void that we all feel from time to time, and those with current questions (as that is a possible indication of callous in our soul). It reads fairly quickly, his use of quotes is inspiring and tweetable, and his content is meaningful.
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