Refreshment for the Soul
Known as “The Heavenly Doctor”, Richard Sibbes is a Puritan writer that all Christians would do well to know and benefit from. Sibbes was a great writer and preacher. When it comes to reading a book from someone new, many people don’t know where to start. Banner of Truth has released a new devotion called Refreshment for the Soul and it contains a year of devotions from some of Sibbes most profound works. This book is a great starting place for every Christian to “The Heavenly Doctor”.
This book is a beautiful hardcover edition. It has a classy dust jacket and the book itself is solid black with gold writing on the spine. It’s compiled and edited by David B. MacKinnon. MacKinnon gives a brief introduction to Sibbes and to the volume. Helpfully, the editor has updated antiquated words and he has shortened some sentences and paragraphs to make the works more accessible and devotional.
This devotion contains several features that I think are really great. The first is that it actually has dates of reading. In the top, outer corner you will find the day of the year for each devotion. I believe too many devotions leave this feature out, but having an actual date is very helpful because you can pick up the book at any point and have a definite place to read from. I also love the inclusion of the book and page numbers in the bottom outer corner that each devotion has been taken from. This is helpful because if a certain devotion speaks to you then you may naturally want to read the whole book from which Sibbes had written.
Finally, each devotion includes a Scripture at the top. Obviously the Word of God has the power to save and change hearts. Too many devotions are written in our time without any Scripture references. This doesn’t make any sense. The inclusion of Scripture that pertains to the selected readings is something crucial that could have been overlooked.
All in all, I think this is an excellent offering from Banner of Truth. Refreshment for the Soul is a devotional that I will be quick to recommend to others and is one that I am recommending to you.
Pick up your copy of Refreshment for the Soul on Amazon (affiliate).
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Banner of Truth in exchange for an honest review.
