My Utmost for His Highest

by Oswald Chambers

novel

Paperback

Published January 1, 1963

About the author

Oswald Chambers was born to devout parents in Aberdeen, Scotland. At age 16, Oswald Chambers was baptized and became a member of Rye Lane Baptist Chapel. Even as a teenager, Chambers was noted for his deep spirituality, and he participated in the evangelization of poor occupants of local lodging houses. Oswald married Gertrude in May 1910, and on May 24, 1913, Gertrude gave birth to their only child, Kathleen. In 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I, Chambers was accepted as a YMCA chaplain. He was assigned to Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt, where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops, who later participated in the Battle of Gallipoli. Soon his wooden-framed "hut" was packed with hundreds of soldiers listening attentively to his messages. Confronted by a soldier who said, "I can't stand religious people," Chambers replied, "Neither can I." Chambers was stricken with appendicitis on October 17, 1917 but resisted going to a hospital on the grounds that the beds would be needed by men wounded in the long-expected Third Battle of Gaza. On October 29th, a surgeon performed an emergency appendectomy, but Chambers died November 15, 1917 from a hemorrhage of the lungs. He was buried in Cairo with full military honors. Gertrude, for the remainder of her life published books and articles for him edited from the notes she had taken in shorthand from his sermons. Most successful of the thirty books was, "My Utmost for His Highest", which has never been out of print and has been translated into 39 languages.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the classic edition - so much superior to the “updated” version that misses so much of what Chambers was saying. I have read it as a daily devotional many times over the years (every 3-4 years I would say) and it is spiritually deep and nourishing.

[RJ Gernant · Rating 5 out of 5]

12/25 Just finished this devotional again for a second year. His thoughts are deep and penetrating. Like I never had read the devotions before.

12/24 Read paperback, special promotional edition. I got this book for a nephew as a high school graduation gift, and picked one up for myself at the same time. I knew this was a classic for depth of content, but this actual classic edition was hard to read as well.

A reviewer of a larger sized, more modern version commented that she had to read the text over and over three times to understand it. I whole-heartily agree!

However, it will likely forever be my daily devotional because it is so rich in content and value.