| Saturday, January 03, 2004 Meditation John 1:29-34 What do John the Baptist and the prophet Samuel have in common? For one thing, they both had the gift of discernment. When Samuel visited Jesse and his sons, he could tell that only one—David—was fit to be king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:6-12). Centuries later, John was baptizing in the Jordan River when Jesus came toward him. Seeing him, John exclaimed, “Here is the Lamb of God” (John 1:29).
Spiritual discernment is a gift that God gives to everyone who has been baptized into Christ. That means us! God wants us to nurture this gift and learn how to use it. How can we come to know God’s will for our lives—and his will for our daily situations—unless we learn how to exercise this precious gift?
On one level, we all have the basic ability to discern good from bad and righteousness from sin. On a deeper level, however, we know that these distinctions between right and wrong can be murky at times. For these “gray areas,” we need to be more careful. First, we need to take the issue to prayer and ask God for clarity. Then, we need to examine our hearts. What is motivating us? How do the choices we are contemplating measure against the commands of God and the teachings of the church? How do they stack up against what we know about God’s character and his intentions for us? Then, to the best of our ability, we should decide, always preferring to err on the side of caution.
John the Baptist was able to discern how he should live because he stayed close to the Holy Spirit. So did Samuel. And for both, their gift of discernment took them beyond questions of their own lives and enabled them to read people’s hearts and detect the Spirit’s movements in the world around them. For them—as well as for us—discernment was nothing less than insight into the very mind and heart of God. This is why spiritual discernment is more than a matter of good reason. It’s also about yielding to God. And that’s a proposition that brings benefits beyond measure!
“Jesus, give me the insight that will help me face the big decisions of life—and the smaller ones, too—in a way that gives you honor and glory.” |
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