Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:21-31 (day six)
It’s no mistake that Paul returns to Abraham. Earlier in the letter, Abraham served as an example of how the “righteous live by faith” in God and not by works of the law. And now? We find Abraham trusting in his own effort to fulfill God’s promise of an heir. (The results were not what he had hoped. In fact, we are still experiencing the results today.)
The point is this. Abraham had started off so well, yet even he stumbled into trusting his efforts along the way-just like the Galatians-but he finished strong.
I think this was a not-so-subtle way of Paul saying, “You can finish strong, just like Abraham! Don’t get caught in the allure of your own effort! Return to Jesus alone, by faith alone.”
Amen!