anonymous revisited

So I finished anonymous by Alicia Chole, and let me say this book is amazingly relevant to me at this point in my life. I've never been more encouraged to take advantage of the hidden times in my life.

Chole's writing style is much like her speaking style: like poetry that cuts you to your heart. She nailed me on several different areas of my life, but I had to keep reading more. This book is a treasure, I would rank it next to A Tale of Three Kings in awesomeness.

I do want to summarize one main principle from the book: today's trials and temptations reflect our decisions in past times of obscurity.

Her main illustration was the wilderness temptations of Jesus, and how his ability to overcome temptation in the most extreme of conditions was directly proportional to the previous thirty years he spent in hiddenness, just living an obedient life. He had waited thirty years...obeying God day after day, refusing to take shortcuts and refusing the attempts of people to thrust him into the public eye. He followed the voice of his Father during the times when he had no audience and no affirmation. This strengthened him to follow his Father after he began his ministry.

This made me realize how important my daily decisions are. Sometimes we let little compromises into our spirituality because it doesn't seem like it affects anything. When you realize that every decision you make today will affect how you respond to a temptation that is still to come...you take them a little more seriously.

Needless to say, my response to this concept has been repentence. I've also been awakened to importance that every day holds. There is no "main course" that is yet to come. Every day is a gift from God, and the decisions of today WILL affect tomorrow, however insignificant they seem.