Paul the apostle has
declared all who believe in Jesus Christ to be no longer servants,
but children and heirs of God Almighty. Because of this relationship,
we now may enjoy the promise of the grace of God. In chapter four and
verse nine Paul turns his attention once again toward those who are
returning to the law of God after having experienced the grace of
God. He wrote:
Howbeit then, when you
knew not God, you did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Paul
first declares their previous state - “Howbeit then, when you
knew not God,...” There was a time when the church members in
Galatia did not know the Almighty and True God. Because the gospel of
Jesus Christ was preached among them and they accepted it, they now
knew God and they knew Him as a Heavenly Father.
Paul
adds, “you did service unto them which by nature are not gods.”
Notice Paul's emphasis on the small letter “g” which denotes that
they were not actually gods at all. People around the world worship
all kinds of gods, and no matter which culture is chosen, the people
group there usually have something with which they have a spiritual
relationship. Paul understood why the Galatians at one time had
spiritual practices toward these empty gods, and his implication is
that it is almost hard to believe that they would desire to have a
different relationship than the one they enjoy with God Almighty.
As a
matter of meditation upon this verse, do we have spiritual practices
today that lean more toward empty gods? Are there ways about us that
if we were to really examine them we might find ourselves in
traditions and rules that align themselves with pagan practices
rather than worship of the True and Almighty God? Lest we be filled
with pride as we think about the Galatian church members and their
ways, let us examine our own and see if there is any wayward way
about us as well.
Next time Paul will ask the question as to why anyone would regress
back into the law, so read ahead, and let us join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look for
the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation
to Generation” in all major
bookstore
sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to
e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment