With my track record, I must say I’m pretty proud of myself for two Friday Favorites in a row. [picture me doing closed eyes, overbite and pumping fist in air] And I KNOW. It may seem strange to YOU that I can write about my underwear one day and God’s Word the next day, but you know what? Life is strange and beautiful and complex and hilarious, and I love that there is room for tree sap and Scripture. We don’t have to be deep and serious all the time, nor should we always be flippant and silly.
Today I want to tell you about a Bible Study I stumbled on and really loved! I volunteer in women’s ministry, I love planning women’s retreats, and I love speaking and hearing good female Christian speakers, so I look into that kind of thing sometimes. And a couple years ago I was googling and found Nicole Unice (http://www.nicoleunice.com). I liked her immediately and began reading her blog and following her on Facebook. She’s not yet uber-famous, like some other Bible teachers, but I think she really has her stuff together.
So when she published a new Bible study called The Divine Pursuit, a Study of Jonah, I decided to buy a copy. I was knee-deep in some other studies last year, so I didn’t have time to work through it until this summer. And it was a perfect summer study! She’s a very natural writer, using funny stories from her own life and pop-culture to make connections to the story (but not in a distracting way). The daily work is only about 10-15 minutes, but requires you to be introspective and also to dive into Scripture–and not just the book of Jonah! I had never studied Jonah before, and I loved that she showed me where he was talked about in other places. One of my favorite techniques that writers use is to use God’s Word to help us understand God’s Word. She has us looking up verses all over the Old and New Testament and using those passages to further understand Jonah and the whole premise of the study, which is that God relentlessly pursues us.
Relentlessly pursues YOU. Relentlessly pursues ME. For a girl who’s been a believer for a long time, it took a fresh look at this concept for it to really sink in. Sometimes I feel like God and I are an old married couple–comfortably secure in our relationship, but not much spark left. WRONG! UNTRUE! God’s passionate about wooing and pursuing me, and wants to FIGHT for me and our relationship to be exciting and real. He wants me to feel wonderfully adored every minute of every day. Because I am. It was a great word for me, and helped me feel a renewal in my passion for HIM! Good, good stuff.
If you are like me, and your time in the Word is so much more consistent when you are working with a study, then this is a great choice. (However, if you go to Morningstar with me, then you should SAVE this study and come do Restless by Jennie Allen with us!) I would truly love to hear your thoughts on other Bible studies you have enjoyed. Feel free to talk back! And I hope you go check out Nicole’s stuff.