Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for a good sunrise! This morning I thought I was not going to get a particularly pretty sunrise as it is a little cloudy here at the Lake! But as I was sitting in my chair reading this morning, I suddenly looked up and here peeking through the clouds very prettily was the sun! It was almost like God was saying “SURPRISE!! Here you go!” I got out of my chair and immediately walked out onto the deck so that I could share it with you! (This has nothing to do with the devo!)
Today I read through my Bible reading and I pondered and asked the Lord what He wanted me to write on today. I have been reading through the gospels over and over this year but I am also reading in Galatians right now. I kept going back and forth to the passage in Galatians, because well quite frankly, it bothered me a bit when I first read it.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. Gal. 5:1-6
This part that says “Christ will be of no advantage to you” is what really bothered me. So I kept digging. I wanted to see what Paul meant by this. You see I really want to hang onto Christ so that He is an advantage to me. I want my faith in Him to be what carries me because if it is not then where am I. When I dug into this passage that is precisely what it is saying. You see if I am only living by a list of dos and don’t in the world then I am not living in the faith that what Jesus did on the cross is enough for me. If I follow all of the lists of rules or the law to the letter of the law and I do not lean into Christ and who He is and what He has done for me then the laws that I keep mean absolutely nothing! The laws and the rules are the yoke of slavery. I have seen people and I would say I have been there myself that get so caught up in the can’t, and shouldn’t, and don’t do things of this life that we forget about Jesus. The last verse of this passage says “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision (the rules, the laws, the list of dos and don’ts) count for anything, but only faith working through love.” (verse 6) Lord let me not get so caught up in the rules that I forget the faith that works in love!
Please pray for your educators and students today (combining these 2)!
Restore 