Dutch
Sheet’s “The Pleasure of His Company: A Journey to Intimate Friendship with God” was truly a pleasure to read. God
lead me to this book right when I needed to be reminded of his love for me as a
Father. This book definitely did the trick. It’s 30 chapters long and can be
used as a month long devotional. Each chapter was fresh and insightful, had
beautiful prayers at the end and shared the theme of the importance of spending
quality time with God. The chapters also started with personal anecdotes,some were
very interesting, others were unfortunately not. Aside from that small flaw, the book was very engaging.
Sheet’s
does a great job of showing God is not stoic, distant or waiting with scowl on
his face to punish us for our sins. In our own human desire to be righteous and
holy it is easy to slip into these “religious” ideas about him. However, Sheet’s
presents the Lord as “passionate, caring, a lover of people, and a seeker of
companionship.” He is a God that rejoices when his prodigals return and dances
joyfully over them (Like 15:11-32, Zephaniah 3:17).
Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was the word studies. Often Sheets would analyze a passage of scriptures based on the meanings of the Hebrew or Greek words used. My favorite was his study of Martha and Mary in Luke 10: 38-42. (It is obviously his favorite as well, as he devotes three chapters to it). One interesting insight was that the word akouo used to describe Mary’s listening, carries the meaning “to understand, hear with the ear of the mind; to hear effectively as to perform what is spoken” (58). In addition the Greek word logos was used to describe the words Mary was listening to, rather than the usual term rhema. Logos has the connotation of “connecting” or “linking” words in order to communicate thoughts and messages. It embodies “the logic” or content of the words. Sheets says “the Lord’s words were connecting in Mary, building a foundation for her life” as she listened. Thus he infers that when Jesus rebukes Martha for her distractions and tells her “only one thing is necessary” he means “Martha, if you will truly connect to me everything else will fall into place. Order will be established; relationships will make sense; I’ll guide your steps into purpose and destiny; I’ll teach you to prosper—everything will work well if you’ll simply listen to me.” (76) That is just one glimpse of the insights his word studies offer.Overall, I highly recommend the book, whether you are in need of experiencing God as Father for the first time, need to be refreshed, or simply want to grow in intimacy with him.
Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was the word studies. Often Sheets would analyze a passage of scriptures based on the meanings of the Hebrew or Greek words used. My favorite was his study of Martha and Mary in Luke 10: 38-42. (It is obviously his favorite as well, as he devotes three chapters to it). One interesting insight was that the word akouo used to describe Mary’s listening, carries the meaning “to understand, hear with the ear of the mind; to hear effectively as to perform what is spoken” (58). In addition the Greek word logos was used to describe the words Mary was listening to, rather than the usual term rhema. Logos has the connotation of “connecting” or “linking” words in order to communicate thoughts and messages. It embodies “the logic” or content of the words. Sheets says “the Lord’s words were connecting in Mary, building a foundation for her life” as she listened. Thus he infers that when Jesus rebukes Martha for her distractions and tells her “only one thing is necessary” he means “Martha, if you will truly connect to me everything else will fall into place. Order will be established; relationships will make sense; I’ll guide your steps into purpose and destiny; I’ll teach you to prosper—everything will work well if you’ll simply listen to me.” (76) That is just one glimpse of the insights his word studies offer.Overall, I highly recommend the book, whether you are in need of experiencing God as Father for the first time, need to be refreshed, or simply want to grow in intimacy with him.
**I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.
