Is “Jesus Calling” a good Book for Christians to Read?

One of the most popular Christian books continues to be Jesus Calling by Sarah Young (Published by Thomas Nelson). Many consider it a collection of transcribed messages given to Sarah Young by Jesus Christ. A friend of mine recently brought this book to my attention and asked me what I thought.

According to Young, her times for praying and reading the Bible were leaving her spiritually dry. She hungered for what God would say to her personally. Therefore, she began having quiet times with pen, paper, and Bible while listening for Jesus to speak to her. Suddenly, the messages began to come. She wrote page after page of what she heard and filled several notebooks. Young then decided that since these messages were really from Jesus, they should be shared with others and thus the creation of Jesus Calling.

If you do not understand how scary and dangerous such a book can be, I would urge you to read some of the following articles:

A Book Review of Jesus Calling by Tim Challies

Review of Jesus Calling by Michael Horton

Book Review of Jesus Calling by Academic Dean and Professor of Biblical Theology, Dr. Stephen Hague

In conclusion, Young acknowledges that she understands that she has the Bible but she desires something more. She desires a deeper experience with God than simply reading the Scriptures. This makes me very uneasy because it shows a real lack of trust in the sufficiency of Scripture.

If you desire to read a devotional every day, you cannot find a book much better to read than Charles H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening. You can read it online at Spurgeon’s Daily Meditations.