Live Hopefully by Lenya Heitzig

Live Hopefully by Lenya Heitzig ISBN-13: 9781434712479 Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: David C. Cook Released: Jan. 1, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
This all-new 20-minutes-a-day study of Nehemiah reminds readers that with God’s help, one person who is ready to do the impossible can change the world.

Hope is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation for the future. Nehemiah knew how to live with true hope. After boldly requesting permission from the king to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, he restored the city and called his people back to God. Despite opposition on all sides, Nehemiah saw God transform a cup-bearer into a contractor, ruins into a city, and a wayward people into followers of God. As Bible teacher Lenya Heitzig reminds readers, God calls them to live boldly with a hope that only He can give.


My Review:
Live Hopefully is a 12 week Bible study on Nehemiah with each week focused on one chapter from Nehemiah (though 1 week covered 2 chapters). Each week had 5 days of study (with the week's introduction read along with Day 1). The author started each day with a story from more modern history, then provided the study verses for that day's reading. She asked reading comprehension questions to make sure you understood the verses. She talked about that day's theme, brought in related verses, pointed out key points in the text, and ended with a quote related to the theme.

Often she drew the "Live Out" section from the actual verses, but she sometimes treated the historical events as an allegory--they held swords as they worked, but we hold God's Word in one hand while working with the other. An actual famine was changed into a spiritual famine in our lives. Rebuilding physical walls became areas that we need to rebuild in our lives. I feel that allegorizing like this reinforces the idea that the Old Testament isn't really relevant to modern life. I wish authors would stay more focused on what we learn about God (and his people) from the verses because God never changes and people have similar motives through the ages. (And getting a correct concept of God and how He works does change how we live out today.) Overall, though, I'd recommend this Bible study.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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