Skip to content ↓

As you know, I spent 40 days blogging my way through The Purpose Driven Life. I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and since then have been forming my thoughts so I can write a review of it. A couple of days ago my thoughts turned to the word “driven” and its implications. I began to look for the word in the Bible and found quite a few references to it. Interestingly, the word driven generally has negative connotations in Scripture. It most often denotes an active force pushing and controlling a passive subject. For example, a ship is driven by the wind and the enemies of the Israelites were driven out of the land.

My thoughts then turned to the alternative to being driven. This, of course, is being led. The Bible has many references to the word led, and they most often speak of a believer choosing to follow God’s ways through knowing Him better. For instance the Israelites were led by a pillar of cloud which they chose to follow and Jesus taught us to ask “do not lead us into temptation.”

And so I wonder, does God call us to be driven or led? Does He call us to be driven by a purpose or led by His Spirit? Or can the two be one in the same? Can a determination of our purpose make us more willing to submit to the Spirit’s leading? Initially I must say that I am more comfortable with the concept of being led by the Spirit, who dwells within me, than being driven by a purpose. But this will require some more thought.

I hope to have my review of The Purpose Driven Life completed in the next day or two.


  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.