Hearing God Through the YearSample

Not a Checklist

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but the merely human concerns.” Mark 8:33 (NIV)

While one may recognize in retrospect how the three lights (impressions of the Spirit, passages from the Bible and circumstances) work, trying to discern the three lights in the present may result in a swirl of confusion. Those without experience in the Way of Christ may try to use them as a formula, spiritual gimmick or quick fix—all “things of men” (Mark 8:33). They will then fall prey to the desire to get their own way and to secure their own prosperity and security. 

The three lights cannot be used as a checklist—trying to get a reading of what circumstances say, a separate reading of what the Bible says and yet another separate reading of what the Spirit says, as we might get an accurate reading of the time of day by consulting three different clocks.

PRAYER: Ask God to show you how you might have used spiritual tools (such as Bible reading or intercessory prayer) as gimmicks or quick fixes. Have you turned Scripture verses or principles into checklists or formulas? Ask God to show you what approaches help you “have in mind the concerns of God” instead.