What Should You Highlight in The Pursuit of God?

Short answer: Highlight only material you will want to find again: the chapter’s main claim, key definitions, important Scripture connections, especially strong cautions, and statements that lead to concrete application. Avoid highlighting entire paragraphs simply because they sound devotional. A selective system makes the book more useful for later Bible study, discussion, teaching, and personal review.

The purpose of highlighting is retrieval

Highlighting is most valuable when future you can open the book and quickly recover its structure.

If 60 percent of the page is yellow, the color no longer tells you what matters. The first rule is therefore restraint.

Aim to highlight perhaps three to seven items in a typical chapter section, not everything that feels meaningful in the moment.

Category 1: the controlling claim

Find the statement that best expresses what the chapter is trying to prove or awaken.

Examples of chapter-level ideas include:

pursuing God after conversion;
surrendering possessiveness;
confronting the self-life;
treating God as real;
recognizing God’s universal presence;
hearing Scripture as the Word of the living God;
faith as the inward look toward Christ;
restoring the Creator-creature order;
receiving Christ’s meekness and rest;
living all of life to God’s glory.

The highlighted sentence should help you remember the chapter, not replace reading it.

Category 2: definitions and unusual terms

Highlight the sentence where Tozer defines or explains terms that may be unfamiliar.

Examples include “apprehending God,” “spiritual receptivity,” “self-life,” “gaze of the soul,” “Creator-creature relation,” and “sacred-secular antithesis.”

Then add a brief margin paraphrase in plain language.

Category 3: Scripture connections

Highlight Scripture quotations or biblical passages that carry substantial weight in the argument.

But do more than color them. Write the reference clearly and later read the biblical passage in context.

This turns highlighting into Bible study rather than quote collecting.

Category 4: claims that need testing

Not every strong statement should be highlighted because you agree with it. Some should be marked because they deserve careful examination.

Use a different symbol or color for claims that are:

theological;
historically specific;
poetic or metaphorical;
stronger than you expected;
potentially easy to misunderstand.

A question mark in the margin may be more valuable than another yellow line.

Category 5: diagnostic statements

Highlight passages that expose motives rather than merely convey information.

These may confront:

self-sufficiency;
hunger for recognition;
distraction;
possessiveness;
practical forgetfulness of God;
spiritual complacency.

Diagnostic highlights become especially useful when rereading the book later because the same statement may expose a different area of life.

Category 6: sentences that lead to action

Mark statements that can be converted into obedience.

Next to the highlight, add an action verb:

Confess. Ask. Release. Call. Serve. Stop. Begin. Pray. Read. Apologize.

Without this step, highlighting can create the illusion of response while changing nothing.

Category 7: prayer language worth personalizing

Tozer’s chapter-ending prayers contain phrases that can help readers respond. Highlight only a short request you intend to turn into your own prayer.

Do not treat the prayer as Scripture. Use it as a prompt, then connect it to a biblical passage and a real situation.

A simple three-color system

If you like color, keep it simple:

Yellow — Core idea

Blue — Scripture / theological connection

Green — Application / prayer

Use a pencil question mark for anything needing evaluation.

Four or five colors can work, but only if you remember what they mean without consulting a legend every few minutes.

What not to highlight

Avoid highlighting:

entire pages;
sentences only because they sound elegant;
repeated versions of the same idea;
every Bible quotation;
material you have not understood;
a statement simply because another person highlighted it.

Understanding should come before emphasis.

Highlighting for different purposes

Personal devotion

Prioritize conviction, prayer, and application.

Small-group leadership

Prioritize discussion-worthy claims, biblical passages, and questions likely to need clarification.

Teaching

Prioritize the structure of the argument, key definitions, Scripture, and areas requiring theological qualification.

Rereading

Prioritize only what you want to compare over time.

The same book can be highlighted differently depending on the purpose.

Build a “top five” after each chapter

When you finish a chapter, review every highlight and choose only five:

Main claim
Key Scripture
Most important definition
Strongest personal challenge
One action

Write these on a blank page or in a notebook. This prevents dozens of highlights from becoming an unorganized archive.

How highlighting supports discipleship

If you are studying with another person, do not simply compare favorite quotations.

Ask each person to bring:

one highlighted biblical truth;
one question;
one personal conviction;
one action.

That moves discussion from admiration of Tozer toward Scripture, obedience, and spiritual growth.

Put It Into Practice

For your next chapter, set a limit of ten highlights maximum. When you finish, reduce them to a top five and write one sentence explaining why each one matters. If you cannot explain a highlight in your own words, it probably should not be in the top five.

Conclusion: Highlighting works best when it is selective and purposeful. Mark what helps you reconstruct the argument, return to Scripture, evaluate Tozer carefully, and act on truth. The goal is not a colorful book; it is a readable trail of understanding and response.