The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day five) “My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—”

What is it that you wish for in your relationships? To be liked and loved. To find acceptance and community. To train and equip. To grow and develop. To love and be loved. To have peace. To bring and experience joy. Think about those relationships/those people for a second: children, spouses, friends, family, co-workers, church family.
Paul’s words to the Galatians can be seen as words of caution and wisdom. His goal… more than being loved, liked, included, encouraged… is for Christ to be formed in them as He is being formed in Paul.  It demands that pride, insecurity, and ego be replaced with a stronger desire and determination for the spiritual and eternal work of Christ (through the Holy Spirit) be the highest priority (in them in him). Willing to risk those things? Paul was.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day four)

“So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?”

As a child going through school, I used to loathe when the teacher would arrange a debate. This was partly because I tend to be conflict-avoidant, but mainly because I would always leave the debate feeling dumb or gullible. I would hear the arguments of one side, and think to myself, “Well, that makes sense. I agree with this team.” But then the other side would present their case, and I would think to myself, “Well…they make some good points. Maybe I agree with them now.” My views would change in a moment and I would leave feeling confused. The debate teams trying to convince me of their way of thinking began to feel like my enemies.

It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized this wasn’t a matter of intelligence, but of patience and steadfastness, and a grounding in God’s Word. I learned that rather than getting sweet-talked into the latest way of thinking, I could take the time to sit with the Holy Spirit and hold arguments and new ideas up to the light of Scripture. As the Word of God began to take root in me, I began to feel less anxious about determining my beliefs, and more confident that the Spirit would guide me into truth.

The Galatians accepted the truth of Christ, but they were still young in their faith. A different truth claim was presented to them, and they were swept away by it in a moment. In their confusion, the Biblical truth that Paul presented to them now felt harsh, like it was coming from an enemy. If we have witnessed the truth of Christ, may we let it settle in out hearts. Let’s learn from the Galatians so that when the wind and the waves come, or in this case, the arguments and debates, we will have a firm foundation on which to stand.

 

Re:Verse passage – Galatians 4:12-20 (day three)

“I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are.”

What Paul proposes here suggests something more beautiful than a meeting of the minds. He sets forth a vision of oneness, a knitting together of hearts that will open up a way to see the way of Christ together. Paul stands in a place of humility in conveying such a vision. He has no need to prevail if by prevailing one means winning the argument. Paul speaks against a false gospel, but he does not champion his perspective as if he’s battling the Galatians. Rather, his concern is that they become one. That’s how powerful Paul knows unity is. That’s why the Lord made it the centerpiece of his prayer in John 17. God is one, and when we are one, we will see God together.

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.