IgniteLit

Title: The God Shot
Author: Tara-Leigh Cobble
Major Themes: Devotionals, God’s Character
Synopsis: 100 devotionals studying God’s character through all the books of the New Testament.

Just over a year ago, our church group did a Bible study focusing on the traits and attributes of God. I had never considered some of the implications of living a God-centered life versus the typical “Jesus is for me” attitude that is common in modern Christendom today. That study really blessed me, so when I saw The God Shot come up as a potential review item, I was interested—and even more so when I saw the description.

Through my Bible reading over the years since I became a Christian, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to spot different aspects of God in the Scriptures. When I was in my early teens, I made lists of all of the names of God I could find in the Bible. More recently, while reading through the New Testament, I tried to extract one element of God’s character as revealed in each chapter of the New Testament. It’s been a lifelong interest for me, and probably will continue to be. So when I started this book, I was surprised and pleased to discover both its simplicity and its depth.

There’s very little introductory matter to this book; its main purpose is the daily devotionals, which I believe are pulled from a radio show Cobble runs. For 100 days, this book leads you through passages in every book of the New Testament—even Philemon! Each passage pulled out of the books expresses one name or attribute of God, and for anywhere from one day up to maybe ten days, you study that name or attribute as you work your way, verse by verse, through the passage. The first passage is Matthew 6:25–33, and for five days, you focus on the name “The God of Peace,” as revealed through that passage. The next passage is Mark 6:34–44, where you study “The God of Compassion,” which was one of my personal favorites of the study.

Working through the passages, one or two verses at a time, these short, three-paragraph devotionals would be suitable for a wide range of uses—from a quick 60–90-second read in the mornings, to a deeper look at the surrounding chapter (or chapters!). I appreciated the flexibility here. Most days, I was able to take the time to go deeper into the surrounding text, and ponder the given verse for the day, but sometimes when life was particularly busy or distracting, I appreciated being able to get a quick “bite” before continuing with my day.

I wouldn’t consider these devotionals exceptionally deep—there’s only so much you can pack into three or four paragraphs—but what is here is inspiring, encouraging, and often, I found, insightful into whatever passage we were studying at the time. At the end of each devotional, Cobble ends on a lovely note, “He’s where the joy is!”, which turned out to be a beautiful attitude to help me begin my days.

I appreciated getting the chance to read The God Shot. My only gripe with the book is that it’s only 100 days long. I would have loved to see more, and perhaps that is in the plans for the future, I don’t know. I would be interested to go through the Old Testament the same way Cobble has done with the New Testament here. I do know that this book has made me more aware, again, of God’s active involvement in our lives and how wonderful He is in His character and attributes. It has also encouraged me to seek those attributes out more in my normal Bible reading, which I consider a very good thing! If you’re looking for a new devotional that is Biblically-based and not too time-consuming, I’d recommend The God Shot. This book was a blessing to me.

I was given a review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

No warnings!