Jon Bloom's Not By Sight: powerful stories for the weary Christian

I'VE ALREADY told you this: that Not By Sight by Jon Bloom will become one of my best reads this year. It's just what I need to read, and part of me wishes I hadn't finished it yet. What will I look forward to reading now?

Jon Bloom, who had blogged some of these stories at the Desiring God website prior to publishing them, retells familiar stories in the Bible and tackles story and character angles not expounded explicitly by Scripture. Of course one can argue that Bloom's approach is tantamount to fictionalizing otherwise recorded factual events. The danger is that he can go too far and make entirely different stories. But Bloom steers clear of this danger, anchoring his stories to actual passages in Scripture, not deviating from the heart of the message. The things he wrote—what Joseph must have felt inside that prison cell, the visit of Paul's old friend when the apostle was in prison, and the rest of the stories—may have actually happened. The reader must give leeway to Bloom for the liberty he has taken to recreate these stories, but they're too beautifully crafted that the Christian soul cannot help but feast on them.

How Bloom was able to pen the 35 stories about the Christian life shouldn't surprise us. After all, biblical characters are so human that an ordinary reader can easily relate to them. This must've been the approach that Bloom took. The stories are short and interesting, and they end with short exhortations and applications appropriate to the Biblical texts. The book is altogether entertaining, uplifting, and insightful.

My favorites in this collection are, hands down, the stories entitled “Neither Do I Condemn You: The Adulteress and Guilt” and “She Still Had to Go Home: The Adulteress and Sin's Consequences.” Both are about Jesus' encounter with the woman who was caught committing fornication and was dragged to be stoned in broad daylight (John 8:2-11). The compassion that Jesus showed her moved me immensely. I turn to these stories to remind me how great a cost Jesus paid to forgive me of my own sins.