While each chapter is brief (perhaps around a dozen pages each), they are filled with practical and helpful material, based on basic biblical and theological truths. One way to give you a flavour of the book is to look at a few of these chapters, and present some useful quotes from them. In his chapter on enjoying the shelter of Jesus he reminds us that Jesus is with us in the storms of life. 

Christianity is Christ. Jesus is the most important person to ever walk this earth. He is also God incarnate, and the living Saviour of those who come to him in faith and repentance. As such there are countess books about him, be they devotional, historical, theological, academic, popular or scholarly.

Oftentimes a useful volume on Jesus is one that is devotional in nature but undergirded by solid theology and biblical depth. The new Tim Chester book Enjoying Jesus (The Good Book Company, 2024) falls into this category. It has a solid theological foundation (chiefly reflecting a Puritan and Reformed perspective), coupled with a vibrant and spiritually uplifting set of short but powerful chapters.

The British pastor had already done a similar book, Enjoying God (The Good Book Company, 2018). If you have that volume and were blessed by it, you know what to expect here. One assumes that Enjoying the Holy Spirit will also appear at some point.

In his Introduction he informs us of what he seeks to do in this book: “I’m interested in what it means to have a real, living relationship with Jesus. What is the give-and-take, the to-and-fro of our day-to-day interaction with Jesus? How is he acting towards you in this moment, and how should you respond?” He goes on to say this:

Before we delve deeper into the ways in which we can relate to Jesus day by day, we need to establish something important about the dynamics of that relationship. First, our union with Jesus doesn’t depend on us. Our relationship with Jesus is created by Jesus through the Holy Spirit—it starts with him and not with us. We didn’t go searching for Jesus; he came to earth to redeem his bride, and now he sends his Spirit to win our hearts….

 

But second, our on-going experience of that union (what John Owen calls our “communion” with Christ) is affected by our actions. When we resist Christ or ignore him, our sense of being connected to him weakens. When we respond to him in faith and love, then our sense of connection deepens. We are saved by Jesus into a two-way relationship with Jesus.

All up Chester looks at 14 areas in which we can and should enjoy Jesus. These include:

-Enjoying his glory
-Enjoying his compassion
-Enjoying his reign
-Enjoying his presence
-Enjoying his voice
-Enjoying his intercession

While each chapter is brief (perhaps around a dozen pages each), they are filled with practical and helpful material, based on basic biblical and theological truths. One way to give you a flavour of the book is to look at a few of these chapters, and present some useful quotes from them.

In his chapter on enjoying the shelter of Jesus he reminds us that Jesus is with us in the storms of life. Of interest, during this past week Melbourne has had some big storms with wild winds. Many folks lost power and some even lost their lives as large trees crashed onto their cars, and so on.

I have some quite large trees around my house, and for a few nights there as the winds were howling so ferociously, all I could do was pray and ask God to protect me, my home, my dog, my cat – and I prayed for my neighbours as well. As I was praying I recalled the windstorm the disciples were in and how Jesus calmed the raging waves.

Chester begins his chapter with that very story as found in Luke 8. He then says this:

The word of Jesus to the storm is described as a rebuke: “he … rebuked the wind and the raging waters”. Then, as they reflect on what just happened, the disciples use a related word: “he commands even the winds and the water” (v 24-25). Both “rebuke” and “command” indicate authority. The wind and waves obey Jesus because he’s their boss. Perhaps the one thing the disciples get right in this story is calling Jesus “Master”. Jesus is the master of the disciples, but it turns out he’s also the master of the weather.

 

This makes Jesus a useful man to have around in a crisis! It turns out that being in the boat with Jesus was the safest place to be, even in the midst of a storm. Jesus is a refuge for his people.

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