Max Lucado's Cure for the Common Life

I received this book as a gift from my mom a few weeks ago and was intrigued to begin it. I am not familiar with a lot of Lucado's work at all, but I have brushed up against it in sermons and children's messages. And every time it's show evidence of a brilliant man who is adept at distilling God's words and wisdom into readily-comprehensible caveats; a skill I envy and our Example employs so easily. So, to say the least, I was excited to take a gander at Cure for the Common Life.

What a great book. It's a simple read, I breezed through most of it in an afternoon and some time yesterday. It's written in a self-effacing, witty, and thoroughly wise and eloquent manner throughout. Lucado's handle on scripture provides backup for nearly every point he makes, at least once a paragraph! He speaks the Word with truth and beauty and grace. Really like his style.

Essentially this book is about finding your "sweet spot" in life, almost like a "what am I here for" answer book. In Lucado's definition, your sweet spot resides in the intersection of your passions/gifts, what you can do to honor God, and where/when you live. In a lot of cases this book is great for self-discovery of one's (spiritual) gifts but Lucado's main focus is on our work, our occupation, whatever it is we do to pay the bils. It's a unique topic in the Christian non-fiction world, as far as I know, but it does apply to much outside of careers.

The one refrain that pops up continuously through the book is that God packed our bags with specific skill sets to be used through our lives for other people. It's a wonderful thought: God himself knows what he wants us to do and how he wants us to do it so he provided us with the right tools from the beginning. And when we are able to use those tools where and when and for the right why, we are in our "zone," our sweet spot.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is searching for their uniqueness, their gifts, or who is frustrated with their work. And even if you're not, it's a great book in case you end up in one of those positions or know someone who is. Lucado is infinitely readable and the book is a treasure to seek out and enjoy.

(Yes, this dLog entry was almost a book review but it's the meaningful stuff I read today!)