Sunday Musings - Invisible (book review)

Jennifer Rothschild’s newest book, Invisible, will be released this Tuesday. I was fortunate to receive a copy of the book early (free from Jennifer Rothschild Ministries in exchange for an honest review). 

 

This book uses the story of Gomer in the Biblical book of Hosea to share just how much God loves each of us. It begins with the idea that we all have characteristics that are similar to Gomer – we are all deeply loved and we have been redeemed, but we still have tendencies to wander and let other things draw our focus away from the Lord. If you are familiar with Gomer’s story, it might rile you to be compared to her as she was a woman of ill repute. When Hosea, a prominent priest, married her (because God told him to), I imagine it was quite a scandal. However, as the book points out, God’s love for us is also scandalous – we are so unworthy, yet He loves us unconditionally!

The book continues with Gomer’s story and the truths that relate to our own lives: 

God loves me, and His love makes me lovely.

I am loved because God is love.

I am not the be-tolerated; I am the beloved!

After a while, Gomer actually leaves Hosea and returns to her previous lifestyle. It’s pretty unbelievable to think that she leaves the safety and security of Hosea’s love, but this quote reminds me that we’re all prone to think that the grass is greener on the other side.

When we’re stuck in the rut of sameness, we fail to notice that we already have everything we need.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the lessons it shares, although I found the flow of reading slow due to the use of unusual or new words. For example, the author used the word “idolotrinket” when discussing various things we turn into idols in our lives. Honestly, this is a catchy phrase, but to me it was overused throughout several chapters that would have read much smoother if these things would have just been called idols. Other words that slowed down the reading were iddiction, Gomerisms, and phroneo (a Greek word meaning “set your affection on”). For me these words slowed down the reading because I had to continually remind myself what the words meant or were representing. Of course, reading slower also helped me absorb the lessons and information presented in the book, so I guess the addition of those words could also be a positive thing!

After reading this book, I just had to pull out my Bible and reread the book of Hosea. And truly that's what I think Christian books should always do - create a desire in us to seek truth in The Word!

In order to receive my free copy of this book, I also had to pre-order another copy of the book to share. There was a glitch at Amazon, and I received that book early, too. I've already passed it on (with a pocket card gift tag attached, of course) to a friend who I know will enjoy it, too.

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Rothschild and have read several of her previous books (my favorites are Lessons I Learned in the Dark and Self Talk, Soul Talk), participated in and lead one of her Bible studies (Lessons I Learned in the Dark), attended one of her Fresh Grounded Faith events, and been a featured expert on her womensministry.net website. I definitely recommend Invisible: How You Feel Is Not Who You Are as well as her other books and Bible studies!