Just Do Something.

My first book finished this year. I heard about it from a friend, and at 122 pages broken into 10 chapters, this was a quick read to jump start my reading in 2010. (And it'll fit your budget. You can buy it for less than $8... or if you're in Nashville, you can borrow my copy.) This book has my recommendation.

Kevin DeYoung is a pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan. (I've read another book of his, Why We're Not Emergent--I recommend that one too.)

Here are a few pieces that stood out to me from Just Do Something, places I underlined as I was reading:

*Does God have a secret will of direction that He expects us to figure out before we do anything? No. Yes, God has specific plans for our lives. And yes, we can be assured that He works things for our good in Christ Jesus ... But while we are free to ask God for wisdom, He does not burden us with the task of diving out His will of direction for our lives ahead of time.

*(We Want Perfect Fulfillment) We have little longing left for our reward in the next life because we've come to expect such rewarding experience in this life.

*Our fascination with the will of God often betrays our lack of trust in God's promises and provisions. We don't just want His word that He will be with us; we want Him to show us the end from the beginning and prove to us that He can be trusted.

*The most important decision we face is the daily decision to live for Christ and die to self.

*For most of our decisions, we would do well to ask someone else, "What do you think?" We spend all this time asking God, "What's Your will?" when He's probably thinking, "Make a friend, would you? Go talk to someone. There's a reason I've redeemed a lot of you--because you do fewer dumb things when you talk to each other."

Chapter 9 talks about God's will in finding a job and getting married. When it comes to marriage, DeYoung talks about how this generation (the 20- and 30-somethings crowd) is spending a lot more time in "adultolescence." In 1965, the median age for marriage was 22.8 for men and 20.6 for women. By 2002, a little more than a generation later, the median age for marriage rose to 26.9 for men and 25.3 for women. There are lots of reasons for delayed marriage: longer life spans, the drive for higher education, and among others, the opportunity to meet hundreds of potential mates, leading to more second-guess and indecision

DeYoung offers several pieces of advice for finding a spouse (Search the Scriptures, seek counsel, pray) but his last point is: Make a decision. I like how he puts it:

Gentleman, there are wonderful Christian girls waiting for you to act, well, like a man. Stop waiting for romantic lightning to strike. Stop waiting for the umpteenth green light ... Go ask a girl on a date, or ask her "to court," or whatever you think is the appropriate language. But do something. Take a chance. Risk rejection. Be the relational and spiritual leader God has called you to be.

God's will is not a magic 8-ball. He does not stick us in a dark maze and tell us, "Good luck finding the end." He's given you a brain and His Word. Stop tinkering, stop waiting for a sign, and just do something.

Great read. You could easily sit down for a chapter a day and finish in a week and a half. I'm currently reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Other books I'm planning to get to in the near future: Finally Alive (John Piper), Portrait of Calvin (THL Parker), Don't Waste Your Life (Piper).