The Book and its Topic

In Chasing Daylight, Erwin McManus looks at the story of how Jonathan (son of King Saul) and his armor-bearer took on the Philistines and changed the course of Israel’s history. When everyone else, including Saul, chose to be passive, these two heroes were brave enough to trust God and act on his instructions. God saw what they did, and He came through for them. He helped them because they decided to seize a divine moment.

That is exactly what this book will encourage you to do. Chasing Daylight encourages you to seize the power of every moment! Divine moments are opportunities. We should not take them lightly or let them slip past.

In Psalm 37:4 the Psalmist said “Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Erwin uses this verse to illustrate that you will not necessarily get what you desire when you delight in God, but rather that God will give you new desires. He says “When we are passionate about God, we can trust our passions.”

Isn’t that awesome? Go back and read it again. We no longer have to sit back and be careful. We tend to always be worried that our heart’s desires are in contrast to God’s heart. When we were still sinners, it surely was. But now, as long as we are absolutely passionate about God and have an intimate relationship with Him, we can trust our passions and act on them.

In fact, that is exactly what God is waiting for...

In Philippians 4 Paul encourages us to think about and act on anything noble, anything good. This is what we should do. Unless we get a clear no from God, we have free reign. We can advance!

Jonathan and his armor-bearer took on the dangerous Philistines without any guarantees of success or survival. Yet they went. They did not pray about it for weeks, and then go to three different pastors to discuss it. No. The acted! And guess what? God delivered them and all of Israel from the Philistines.

Erwin uses this masterpiece of a book to show us how we should be acting. He claims “If heaven had an advertising section, it would take a full-page ad that read: 'Wanted, Risk takers for God.'”

BookDisciple Power Quote

“To follow Jesus is to move with God. When you become a part of God’s movement, you are a missionary. Every missionary has a mission. The mission gives him both intentionality and purpose. He has no minutes to waste. He is required to seize every divine moment. Is it possible that God longs for this for all of us?” - Chasing Daylight, p.48.

So, how does it read?

Chasing Daylight is not the shortest book I have ever read. However, at no point did I feel that Erwin was lingering too long on any point. It is all necessary, and it is all good.

The book has 3 parts dividing 9 very creatively named chapters. Come on! How could we have expected anything less than creative from Erwin? In fact, he went further. Every part and every chapter is preceded by a little excerpt from The Perils of Ayden...

I think The Perils of Ayden is a series of short stories. The entries chosen fit in perfectly with the message of the book. It is a bit of a mystery where you can get hold of the full collection. I read somewhere that Erwin is not completely finished with them yet, and he wants to publish them in the future. If that is true, I can’t wait! It should give The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia a good run for their money.

Chasing Daylight is written in Erwin’s trademark style. Easy to follow, easy to understand, but still sophisticated enough to make someone like me look like an amateur... Erwin, do you give writing lessons?

A very enjoyable read, indeed.

What did this book mean to me personally?

I am someone Chasing Daylight. I am acting on my passions and dreams. Therefore, this book firstly encouraged me. It showed me I am on the right track, and despite the uncertainty ahead, I can advance knowing God is with me.

Secondly, it encouraged me to seek harder, work harder and rush forward as if I am part of a very strategic military operation. Time is of the essence. We only get this one life to make a difference. We only get one chance to work out our salvation and earn eternal rewards.

The impact of this book on my life is hard to quantify right now. Maybe in ten years time I will look back and have very fond memories of this book. Maybe then, I will be even more thankful that I had an opportunity to read it.

Conclusion

All Christians should be awakened. That is exactly what will happen if you and I start seizing divine moments. As Erwin explains in the very last chapter entitled Awakening, through Chasing Daylight (and seizing divine moments) God will help us:

• Unleash the Faithful,
• Ignite the Apathetic,
• Reclaim the Rebellious,
• Heal the Broken, and
• Raise the Dead.

Now is that a worthy cause, or what! Read this book. Soon you too will be Chasing Daylight!

PS. I found this cool promotion video on YouTube.com, about Chasing Daylight. It is not for the book, but for a ten-week Bible study. It is still very informative and gives you an excellent idea of what to expect from the book. Check it out if you want to know more...

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