I received this book to review from Family Christian, and my goodness, it’s amazing. Definitely one of my favorite books I read in 2014. In it, Jamie talks about how many Christians are focused on the “Thou Shall Nots” of the Gospel, and in doing so infer that just by NOT doing something, they’ll get into heaven, easy peasy. But this is not so! The Gospel is much more a Gospel of ACTION and we need to be doing all the “Thou Shalls” we can in order to please and honor God. And isn’t that the truth? This book really spoke to me, and I would really encourage every one to read it, no matter what religion or denomination you are.

A great feature of Thou Shall is that at the end of each chapter, Jamie has included a section entitled “Reflect and Discuss” with questions to help you do just that, as well as a prayer written specifically about that chapter. I loved this because it really gave me an opportunity to ponder and reflect on the chapter I had just read, and think about what stuck out most to me, and how I could apply that in my life.

The main key points of this book can be summed up in the last paragraphs of the book:

…. He would say, “Thou Shall Abide.”

…. And so as you abide,

Go,

Act,

Advocate, 

and Serve.

God is really a loving God. He doesn’t want to punish us. In fact, as Jamie points out, the rules and commandments God gives us are but guardrails, to help us live a happy, successful and full life. He also mentions that many people know what Christians stand against, but very few know what Christians stand for. And as I read and studied Thou Shall, I was reminded what to do in order to glorify God in my daily life, and show those around me what I stand for.

I hope I can go about each and every day this year focusing on giving glory and honor to God, and also doing the “shalls” and not just avoiding the “nots”. I hope you’ll do this, too. Think about what a wonderful world it would be. So let’s band together, as Christians, as brothers and sisters, and share goodness and the light of Christ. Who’s with me?