3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
For many people, taking a few minutes out of the day for quiet thought and reflection is a healthy and helpful routine. Some people do yoga; some meditate. Many Christians use this time to reflect on Scripture and pray. First Fruits by Susan Butler is a devotional book and a tool for Christians with the desire to begin or continue this routine. A devotional in this context usually takes the form of a short passage from the Bible accompanied by a brief text written by the author. There are many types of devotionals to correspond with types of people, their interests, or their goals. The idea is that the devotional will be uplifting and inspirational to the reader. In Christian devotionals, many authors prompt readers to pray for one of a variety of reasons, persons, or causes as inspired by the day’s text. In short, this type of book represents a quiet, God-focused break in each day to renew one’s energy and inspire one to good attitudes and actions throughout the day.
In this devotional, Ms. Butler has identified 51 precepts that she wants to encourage readers to contemplate. For every day of the year, she includes a Bible verse or two and then simply rewrites the verse in more accessible language. She sometimes concludes with a brief challenge to the reader or incorporates such into the language she uses to rephrase the verse. As I read through the book, there were a few of these daily pages that seemed a little out of place. Although not really a distraction to the reader, it did momentarily break the focus away from the topic designated for the week.
Interspersed into these daily readings are longer passages (one each week). These are designed to focus the readings for the next seven days and challenge the reader to deeper reflection. They explore topics like faith, the Holy Spirit, temptation, and healing. While still only about two pages long, these texts are intended to provoke thought or discussion and bear evidence of the work the author put into the creation of the devotional book. The author expresses her views on the various topics with frankness and conviction and occasionally includes quotations and citations that indicate the level of research she performed to prepare her writing. Her questions and challenges to the reader are often probing and insightful, demanding equal depth of thought in response.
Obviously, the religious nature of this book will limit its readership. One can really only recommend First Fruits to a practicing Christian. Within this demographic, I would recommend this to non-reader adults. The extreme brevity of each day’s passage might leave a regular reader feeling underwhelmed, but someone who does not read often would probably find the text workable. This book is perfect for someone who only has five minutes in a busy day to stop, think, and pray.
My rating for First Fruits is 3 out of 4 stars. I would have liked to see the content go a little bit deeper and challenge the reader more in the daily readings. There is a lot of growing a person can do in the course of the year, and the best devotionals I have ever read build over the course of time to encourage that kind of spiritual growth. This one remains extremely brief and fairly basic, which may limit its appeal.
******
First Fruits
View: on Bookshelves
Like L_Therese's review? Post a comment saying so!