I have been slowly working my way through Jen Wilkin’s book In His Image over the last few months. If you haven’t heard of Jen you can check out her website (https://www.jenwilkin.net/) to read a little more about her and check out her books! She also has some Bible studies available for order. I love Jen’s way of writing. It’s efficient but impactful. There isn’t a lot of fluff or over personalization. Jen does a great job walking you through what scripture says and how we can wisely interpret it in our lives.
In His Image walks the reader through ’10 ways God calls us to reflect his character’. Each chapter focuses on one characteristic of God. For each characteristic you can expect to find scripture throughout the chapter that points to where God shows us in his word that he is wise, just, merciful, etc. Let’s use mercy as our example. Jen starts by showing what it really means for God to be a God of mercy. She carefully applies scripture and brings both Biblical and personal examples. The whole purpose of this book is to bring out characteristics of God that we as his children should also reflect. As Jen moves in to more personal examples, she is making the application to how and why we should grow and develop this trait in our own lives. At the end of the chapter there are several verses to read and meditate on as well as some reflection questions to help you think through the reading on a deeper level. Each chapter closes with a prayer, thanking God for being who he is and asking him to help you reflect that specific characteristic that is found in Him and should be found in us.
What I love about the book is that everything flows together but each chapter is also a complete teaching on its own. For me, I found that the most beneficial way to work through the book was to limit myself to no more than one chapter a day. When trying to do more it was harder for me to really focus and meditate on the scriptures and study questions at the end. You can almost use the book as a personal devotional. Although I always recommend spending time directly in the scripture apart from reading a study.
I also let time pass between the chapters. This was less of an intentional decision and more the product of my changing schedule during the time I have been reading through the book. But I found that because of the nature of each chapter I was able to get the full teaching and impact even spreading them out. I would recommend reading the entire chapter in one sitting if possible. The chapters are relatively short and as I said, reading one in its entirety gives a sense of completeness as it comes full circle from the presentation of the characteristic at the beginning to the personal prayer at the end.
All in all I highly recommend In His Image to any reader. It is written at a level anyone can understand. Even those who have done a lot of Bible studying will find Jen’s way of presenting things wise, refreshing, and convicting. And those with an interest in writing will appreciate Jen’s remarkable ability to express things so completely yet succinctly. She is truly a talented teacher.
I look forward to reading her other books and perhaps sharing some of her studies with the women in my life. If you are interested in purchasing In His Image you can check out the link to Jen’s website above or the link on Amazon that I’ll post below. Happy Reading, Friends!
