Thoughts From Galatians 4 - Part 1

 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces[a] of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.  Gal.4:1-7

             Have you ever seen one of those old-time sit coms, it was probably "I Love Lucy" because she always got herself in these kinds of messes, where there is some kind of chorus line/ dance routine happening on stage and someone not belonging there gets thrust on stage? Not to stick out or ruin the performance, they try to mimic the dancers by watching out of the corner of their eye. Unavoidably they are always several beats and moves behind, still end up sticking out like a sore thumb, ruining the performance and end up exhausted and embarrassed.

          This is a little picture of the Old Covenant and New Covenant. In the Old Covenant before Christ, the people of God had to mimic the Law. They were always frustrated, missing the mark, behind in their sacrifices because being in perfect step was something no one knew how to do, although the Pharisees knew the dance pretty well. The Law only pointed to how much of a failure they were. Then, when the time was right, CHRISTMAS!! Jesus came and brought the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, the dance, the music, the success was put inside us when God put His Spirit inside us at salvation. Now we go through the dance of life, not scared we will mess up but led by God internally to live a life that pleases him in freedom.

       Lest we think this is just an Old Testament vs. New Testament thing that was resolved once and for all, we Christians do get caught up in performance-based Christianity rather than relational living empowered by our walk with Jesus. We need a daily surrender to His control of our lives . We are human beings not human doings so today, spend more time knowing Jesus than attempting to please Him. I bet you'll end up doing both.