Learning to Live Out of Our Identity

Basically, what we have here is a book about finding, and resting in, our identity in Christ,  and you can never have enough books like that out there. And for the record: We don’t.

David M. Showers. Ten Steps to a Closer Walk With God. 154p., $12.99, CreateSpace.

It’s a bit of misnomer to call it “10 steps,” as if what Showers is suggesting here was that easy or proscripted. (But marketers do consider such titles “catchy,” so there you go.) To his credit, he acknowledges this disconnect up front, and instructs the reader to take things at the pace God sets instead. Perhaps a more accurate title would be “10 Ways to Get Closer to God That We Forget Way Too Easily… or These Days, Possibly Haven’t Even Been Told.”

In fact, the first two “steps” here—giving up control and learning to trust—are arguably the hardest, especially for a self-proclaimed “recovering control freak” such as Showers (and myself, for that matter). They’re probably also the most important and all-pervasive (although the closing “step”—reverence—is right up there). From those launching points of control and trust, however, the fruit discussed later on in the book—forgiveness, humility, faith, joy, availability to others, a deeper sense of stewardship—fall into place pretty readily.

Each chapter concludes with a personal prayer of commitment and an action point—which, more times than not, consists of waiting on God until He gives a specific direction on how to manifest what you’ve just learned in your life. Which again, is pretty sensible advice we don’t get often enough.

The strengths of this book comes from 1) Showers’ own experiences in drawing closer to God (for example, learning the importance of fellowship), and in rephrasing those experiences in ways that anybody picking up the book can immediately get and apply; and 2) constantly redirecting us back into the Word and prayer. Showers’ tone here is totally accessible—anyone should be able to pick this up and get what he’s saying.

In short, this fairly concise book is probably a good choice for that person who’s starting to realize that the Christian life isn’t just something that happens after they die. Use it to help them to see and take those first “steps” to a daily life with Jesus—in this life.