Episode
Ditch the Checklist
- Podcast
- Grace for All
- Published
- Jul 1, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 337
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://graceforall.captivate.fm/episode/ditch-the-checklist
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Summary
With what should I approach the Lord and bow down before God on high? Should I come before him with entirely burned offerings, with year-old calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with many torrents of oil? Should I give my oldest child for my crime; the fruit of my body for the sin of my spirit? He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you: to do justice, embrace faithful love, and walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8 (CEB) I don't know if this is true of most people, but I know it is true of me: I have often wanted a checklist. Sure, I make my own checklists, but that's not what I'm talking about. I mean the kind someone hands you. How to do your taxes. Step one. Step two. Step three. How to choose a career. How to be a good husband. How to write a novel. The problem is the assumption that if you gather all the right pieces and assemble them correctly, you will automatically end up with something whole. Do all the little steps, or even all the big steps, and everything will turn out right. That's not how life works. Don’t get me wrong, checklists are useful. I use them all the time. But they are just a tool. Assembling all the ingredients of a cake does not guarantee you'll end up with a good cake, even if you stir everything together, even if you follow all the directions. Something separates an excellent baker from a merely adequate one, things like judgment, experience, and feel . Through the prophet Micah, God pointed out the shortcoming of Israel's checklist mentality. They had a list of good things to do—even impressive things—but they were missing what those things were supposed to accomplish. Maybe they wanted to earn their way to God. At the very least, they could look back over the previous week or month a…