The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day two) Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. vs. 15

Paul hits a little too close to home for me on this one. Perhaps you can also relate, and if you can’t, learn from my journey. I don’t like to do things halfway. As a result when I go all in, I go ALL in. I can get consumed with whatever need or goal is before me. It is a part of my personality that I have learned to manage for the long run, but that is where it becomes most challenging. If a goal or need takes more than a week, a month, or longer than a year my zeal can start to wane. It’s hard to run that hot for too long. Paul is saying that in the beginning, during his convalescence, the Galatians would have done anything for him, but the next big need, or fad, or teaching  came along and drove them away. If you are like me, you must ask yourself the question: am I doing this because it’s new and exciting, or because it is what is good, true, and beautiful? If we have been called to something, we should see it through to completion, manage our energy, and devote ourselves to what the Lord has for us to learn. Stay the course.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day seven)

When you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. Galatians 4:8

For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 2 Peter 2:19

We are all slaves to something. The question is what are you enslaved to? Technology, work, hobbies, finances, schedules? It may seem like a poor comparison to use such a belittling human experience to explain the effect that these things can have on our life, but if we can all be honest, there is likely something that is running our life that is not divine. It consumes our time, thoughts, and money. It could even be a litany of things. Yet, when we truly look into what’s going on in our life, it is quite likely that we have fallen back into captivity, and the things that are holding us captive are no gods. Which is why our God reminds us again and again; the Father sets us Free. He says, “Come to Me all who are weary and I will give you rest.” We do not have to be enslaved to the things of this world, because we are a child of the King.

I’m no longer a slave to _____. I am a child of God.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day six)

How do you live like an heir? An heir has a secure identity and inheritance; neither is in question. An heir, then, lives with a kind of fearless faithfulness. Or described another way, an heir lives completely free.

Remember the prodigal son’s brother? He questioned how his dad could so freely honor his brother after all he had done while he felt like he had access to nothing. His dad replied, “But you are my son, you have access to everything that is mine.” The older brother was not living as an heir but as a slave, constantly trying to prove his worth through obedience. He wasn’t fearlessly free.

Paul is reminding the Galatians who they are, just like the dad did in the parable of the prodigal son, “Remember, you are heirs (sons and daughters). Don’t go back to living like a slave.”

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day five)  “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Paul uses two pictures in verse 5 to describe the work of Christ.  We have been thinking through the first picture at great length and in great detail. Slaves freed from the penalty or curse of the law. Freedom is the biggest theme we find in this letter to the Galatians. Yet, there is another picture that expounds on the work of Christ- adopted sons (children). The good news of gospel is twofold in this passage. We are both redeemed AND also righteous. We are freed AND adopted. No longer slaves AND are now sons.  Jesus removes what we deserve (penalty under the law) and gives us what He deserves (sonship with the Father). That is indeed good news!!

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day four)

It’s easy to remember the past with rose-colored glasses. The troubles of today make the hardships of the past not seem so bad. We see this in the Israelites when they’re journeying through the wilderness and in want of food. They complain to Moses, “It would have been better for us to remain enslaved in Egypt than die here in the wilderness!” Of course, it would not have been better for them back in Egypt. Their present troubles were clouding their judgement. Of course, they found a way to spiritually enslave themselves again through their sin.

Paul is accusing the Galatians of the very same thing. They grew up enslaved to pagan traditions, not Jewish law. But the law was in their midst now, and it was tempting to them. It was drawing them back into a life of servitude. Paul insinuates that adopting the law now would be akin to returning to paganism, the very thing that held them captive before. When we let the law do anything other than point us to Christ, we become enslaved to it. We could ask of the Galatians, “Why would you want to do that? Why would you want to give up your newfound freedom?” But we don’t have to, because we fall victim to this same pattern.

What is it about our flesh that draws us to these things that harm us? Paul will expound on that more in the next chapter, but let this serve as a checkpoint for us: what things of this world, things of our past, worldly ideologies, or pet sins do we see with rose-colored glasses? Let’s take those glasses off, see things for what they are, and hold on to our freedom in Christ.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day three)

“You observe days and months and seasons and years.”

Shall we now dispense of liturgical calendars? Fortunately, Paul’s not suggesting that. When seasonal signposts go away, rhythms of life get confused. The experience of disorientation of one’s sense of time regarding events of the past several years (e.g.: did I talk to that person recently or was that pre-Covid?) is due to the pandemic’s disruption of the regular ways a society marks times and seasons and years. Similarly, holy markers matter. For instance, does Easter acknowledge only Jesus’s resurrection, or does it also signify that there is now a new possibility for the human body and the human spirit because of that resurrection? The Lenten season will help you contemplate both. That’s what liturgical seasons and holidays (“holy days”) do. A calendar isn’t a savior, but it reminds us of One.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:1-11 (day two) But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,⁵ so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. vs. 4-5

Timing is tricky. If you have spent time in the kitchen, especially baking, you have learned the importance of watching and waiting, and the effects of not watching and waiting. Desserts that don’t cook through can be edible, but perhaps not exactly what we were aiming for. Consequently, leaving something too long in the oven can be disastrous. Trust me on this one.

Maybe you have been frustrated at God’s timing. You know the promises of scripture, and you believe that God is sovereign, but you are struggling to get through the day. Why not now, God? Think of the generations of Jews who asked the same questions. How long, oh Lord, how long? Many of them did not live to see the fulfillment of God’s promise, but it did come. God can see the landscape of humanity with a clear understanding of timing, and he knew exactly the time to send Jesus to walk among us. You can trust that he knows your heart’s cry as well.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 3:15-29 (day seven) 

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ. Galatians 3:24

I prided myself on my GPA. I was an excellent student, and most subjects came naturally to me. That was until I decided to add a business minor to my degree and was forced to take accounting. I was taking Greek and accounting at the same time, and Greek made more sense to me than accounting. So what did I do? I sucked up my pride and went to tutoring. At a small school like Howard Payne, I was able to meet with the professor directly as my tutor. He saw my effort and offered me a compromise; he would tell me the solution, so long as I could do the work to prove that the solution was true.

The Law gives us a path to the Solution. The Law tutors us by pointing us to Jesus. It is our job to do the work to prove that The Solution is true. I am as guilty as the next of skimming over the Law, but it is the Law that lays the foundation for our salvation. Maybe I need to spend more time in tutoring! What about you?