The Danger of Copying Methods Instead of Following the Spirit
One of the subtle temptations in the Christian life is to assume that because God worked through a particular method before, He must work through the same method again. Scripture, however, reveals a God who is unchanging in His character but wonderfully diverse in His operations. His purposes never change, His Word never changes, His covenant never changes, but His methods often do. The believer who understands this distinction walks in continual dependence upon the Holy Spirit rather than dependence upon religious formulas. Elijah stood by the Jordan, took his mantle, struck the waters, and the river parted. Moments later, after Elijah had been taken into heaven, Elisha returned to the same river, took the same mantle, struck the Jordan in the same manner, and the waters parted again. At first glance, this appears to endorse imitation. Yet a deeper reading reveals that Elisha was not merely copying Elijah's technique. He was responding to the prophetic inheritance God had just pla...