Galatians 5:1
Take the time
periodically throughout the day to remind yourself that you are free in Christ…
This is not to say that you should abandon your job or that you should speak
freely to your co-workers; this is just to remind you that your past
restrictions will not limit your future progress… Paul was a man who was
opposed because of the years of his life when he was known as Saul; there were
many who wanted to focus on his past and use that to negate his future… This
same thing happens to us daily, there are people who want to hold you back
based on yesterday, they want you to be defined by your past instead of
learning from it and the word of God says that that we need to “Remember not the former
things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it
springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and
rivers in the desert...” God took a man with a
speech impediment and made him a leader (Moses), he took a shepherd and made
him a king (David) and he took a young man fleeing from his twin brother and
made him the father of the twelve tribes of Israel (Jacob)… All these men had a past, all of them
encountered obstacles and made mistakes along the way; however, the biggest
point about these men is that they didn’t let their past determine their
future, they believed in the liberty which is received by all how believe and
were able to overcome their detractors… Moses lead the children of God to the
cusp of the Promise Land, David was called a man after God’s own heart and
Jacob was transformed into Israel after wrestling a man all night long… These
men were liberated from their mistakes and errors; this same liberation we also
can obtain as Paul speaks to the fact that we have been liberated by Christ
which has made us free… The challenge for you today is found in the first two
words of this verse, stand fast… You have to be comfortable in Christ; this
means that you are not wavered by storms, what people say about you doesn’t
affect your mindset and when people bring up your past you have the ability to
continue in boldness and confidence… To stand fast, one must know where they
were, accept the mistakes of yesterday and continue to fight and press all the
more toward their future… When Saul encountered Christ and was blinded, the
word says that the Lord spoke to Ananias and said, “Go! This man
is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their
kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he
must suffer for my name.” God has chosen you and the path that you will travel in Him will
be paved with bumps and bruises… From birth your destiny was bound to the fall
of man in the Garden of Eden; sin has been implanted in you; however, the Lord
wants you to remind yourself that the enemy had you but you have been set free…
The things you face will tempt you, but you don’t have to succumb to them based
on the shortcomings of yesterday… Your life will not be easy, you will
experience snares where the enemy will try to confine you and this is why Paul goes
on to tell the Church of Galatia, be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage… Don’t
allow Satan a foothold; don’t give him that opportunity to take over your life…
One of the most important truths that we must recognize is that without Christ
we are nothing…The bible declares that by the sin of one man we all were
made sinners and that by the obedience of one man we have been made righteous… Jesus is the bridge that connects us back to
the father and all who do not recognize Him will surely fall short… Paul’s
letter to the church of Galatia calls for the body of
Christ to stand fast in the liberty that Christ has made them free… Our faith,
our hope, our foundation must be set upon the offering that Christ made on the
cross… Paul is speaking to a people that face temptations daily, he is speaking
to a body that has been tested and is simply reminding them not to try and
fight these battles on their own… We can learn a lot from this passage; often
times we find ourselves in situations where things do work the way we planned;
it is in these times that we must know waver in our faith nor try to fix things
on our own… Knowing that Christ has set us free provides strength to us because
we know that He has the power to sustain us… Due to the sin that was committed
in the Garden of Eden we all enter this world “entangled with the yoke of bondage…” From the time that we come from our mother’s
womb, we are in the grasp of Satan and his devices; it is only through the
bloodshed of Christ that we are set free…Not only are we called to acknowledge
the sovereign power that Christ has through this passage, but we are also
called to recognize the captivity that we are in without Him…To call someone
(especially a person of color) a slave is considered offensive and mean. Many people today simply frown upon that word
and think that it should not be used in today’s frame of living. The fact of the matter is that we have many
people in our society’s right at these moments who are slaves; slaves to their
jobs, slaves to their greed and love of money, slaves to living in unfruitful
life. Think about how many times we have shifted responsibility because we felt
we were obligated to do something. Think about how many times you have said or
heard a parent say that they can’t spend time with their children, or this job
is killing them. Furthermore, think about how many people have fell into the
trap set by the enemy thinking that this is all that they are living for and
that their will never be a better today. This passage reminds us that through
the bloodshed of Jesus Christ we are no longer slaves; we have been freed from
the penalty of our very sin and have been granted an opportunity to inherit
eternal life. Stand fast, stay focused because there is a brighter tomorrow and
a hope for a wonderful future! I believe the psalmist said it best, “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus
Blood and righteousness, on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is
seeking sand…”
BE BLESSED!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment