Reviewed by Barbara Dahlgren

Have you striven to do all the right things, such as attending church faithfully, praying fervently, serving cheerfully and reading the Bible daily in an effort to draw closer to God? Do you feel frustrated because you aren’t good enough and guilty because you can’t do enough? You are not alone. Grace Walk gives encouragement to those who find that no matter how hard they try, they still feel like spiritual failures.

Although we know we are saved by grace, most of us are still trying to earn salvation, or at least favor with God. Yet God already loves us and Jesus died for us while we were sinners. Doing things will not draw us closer to him, because he is already in us. You can’t get any closer than that. People believe the Christian life to be primarily a life of service, when it should primarily be a life of intimacy with God.

A byproduct of this intimacy is service, but our service does not draw us closer to God; our closeness with God naturally manifests itself through service.

This intimacy will spill over into every aspect of our lives. Instead of approaching the Bible as a legalistic list of dos and don’ts, we will focus on knowing God. Instead of just saying scheduled prayers, we will enter into a continual prayer relationship with God. Instead of striving for victory, we realize that Christ in us is the victory!

I thoroughly enjoyed Grace Walk and McVey’s approach. This easy-to-read book helped me refocus on the fact that Christ isn’t simply in my life, he is my life. In him we live and move and have our being. Grace Walk suggests that the Christian life is a lot easier if we let Christ do it.

Steve McVey, Grace Walk, Harvest House Publishers, 2005, paperback $11.99.

Copyright 2009