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When I read the back of this book, I couldn't wait to open it up and start reading it. I have long felt the conflict of loving the things God has provided because He is God and using it to bring glory to Him, to feeling guilty because I didn't want to make anything He gave me into an idol. It's was a toss up as to how I felt on different days and different times of my life. I wasn't certain that I quite understood it.
Joe Rigney does start out saying that he's a professor, so some of his wording can be a harder to read when you are tired. I felt like I needed to devote my full attention to what he was saying as I read, which is a good thing. I definitely understood it more than if he had used words that I didn't have to consider.
He starts the book by laying the foundation of who God is and what He has provided. If we don't understand that, we won't understand the main question of how to treasure God by enjoying His gifts. I appreciated that Rigney debated back and forth as to the flipside of the equation was when considering this question. It helped me to realize that I wasn't alone in my thought process and that it is okay to wrestle it out in my mind, even when it's hard to explain it.
Rigney constantly points the reader back to God. We enjoy God's gifts because we love Him and can use those gifts to bring Him glory. It's not necessarily bad to own a house or to have things. It's their use that makes it good or bad. Let me just say, reading this book has made shopping more interesting. I find myself pausing and actually thinking about the use of what I want, instead of whether it's a purchase for just me. It has helped in regards to my spending, too, because I'm checking my heart before I purchase.
If people are honest, I imagine many others wrestle with this topic of loving God and loving what He has given us. I learned a lot through this book and am thankful that it helped clarify some things for.me in Scripture.
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I received this book free from Crossway in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.
