Review of Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

Book Description:

These are difficult days in our world's history.  1.75 billion people are desperately poor, natural disasters are gouging entire nations, and economic uncertainty still reigns across the globe.  But you and I have been given an opportunity to make a big difference.  What if we did? What if we rocked the world with hope?  Infiltrated all corners with God's love and life?  We are created by a great God to do great works.  He invites us to outlive our lives, not just in heaven, but here on earth.  Let's live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did.




My Thoughts:

Lucado does another fine job in this book.  Although there seems to be more fluff than most of his books, Lucado continues to make and explain legitimate points.  Included in this book are Scripture references prior to each chapter and a prayer at the end.  I especially enjoyed the prayer because it allowed the reader to actually pause and turn over the specific topic covered in the chapter to God.  At the end of the Outlive Your Life, David Drury adds a Discussion and Action Guide to supplement the book.  This is also a nice touch.  The D&A Guide allows the reader to asses themselves based on questions posed for each chapter along with specific challenges to the reader.

The meat of Lucado’s book consists of 16 chapters all designed to stir up reflection in the reader.  Chapters may or may not be applicable to the reader as we all struggle with a variety of issues and living as Christ instructs.  Although the chapters are very short, Lucado utilizes both Scriptural and real life examples of each situation discussed in the chapter.  I feel that Lucado could have gone more in depth in the chapters and eliminated a few of the real world examples.  They seem to fill up the pages more than the purpose. 

Overall, Outlive Your Life is a good read.  The book encourages the Christian reader to stay on task and put into action ways to live beyond the mundane life.  I would recommend this book as an easy but effective read for anyone who wants a refresher in Christian living.  Furthermore, if you just need a fresh perspective or some ideas to make the world a better place, pick up a copy. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”