Living an Anointed Life—Part One

Psalm 23 verse 5 includes a short phrase that sounds ancient and obscure: "You anoint my head with oil." Rick Warren argues that this three-thousand-year-old image carries a direct, practical meaning for anyone trying to figure out what they are supposed to do with their life. The central question of the episode is straightforward: what does it mean to be anointed, and why does it matter for ordinary people who are not priests, prophets, or kings?

What Anointing Actually Is

Warren draws a clear distinction between two kinds of anointing. Anointing by God is internal—"when God's Holy Spirit gives you insight or ability, or stamina, or authority, or protection that you don't normally have in order to do a job that God has chosen you to do." Anointing by people is external: someone prayerfully applies oil to your skin as an outward symbol of what God is doing inside you. The oil itself has no magical properties, just as the water in baptism is ordinary water. It is a symbol, like a wedding ring. "I could lose this ring, and I'd still be married," Warren says. The ring does not make the marriage; it signifies it.