Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

Ladies, this book is a must read. I first heard of this book from a couple of my "older" friends (moms of kids I work with) and they told me that it was an excellent book. Well, I don't get into Christian fiction much at all, least of all a cheesy romance novel. It wasn't until a younger friend of mine said that she also read the book and it changed her life. I was skeptical, but decided I would go ahead and read it to see if it really was that good.

I started this book about midnight one night during Christmas vacation and couldn't stop reading until 5 a.m. The next day I read for another 5 straight hours to finish. Redeeming Love is an amazing portrayal of the story of Hosea and Gomer. The setting is the mid-1800s, where a girl has been subjected to child prostitution most of her life and at 18 is stuck in a life of prostitution. She is numb to pain or emotion. One day, Michael is told by God that she is to be his wife and he relentlessly pursues her. She, of course, is hard-hearted and the story continues with how Michael rescues her from this brothel, and how he talks her back after she returns to prostitution. It's a beautiful story of how a woman stone-cold heart is broken by the love of a man, and is an amazing example of God's relentless pursuit of us.

Sometimes I know that many of us feel as though we are so disgusting and that it would be impossible for God to desire us, let alone that He would want to pursue us. But this book is a beautiful story of how stubborn and fierce God's love is for us. He seeks to rescue us from our sin and invite us into His home, to be His bride. This book certainly brought that truth to life for me this Christmas.

It's on sale right now with Amazon (click the title of this post to buy). Trust me - you won't put it down either.