Galatians 4:6-11
6Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
7Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
8However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods.
9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?
10You observe days and months and seasons and years.
11I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.
Paul breaks down our inheritance of the Kingdom through the grace of God and is quick to point out that despite of our new titles as princes and princesses under the King of Kings, we still act as slaves and peasants. Why would anyone do that? Seriously!
We do this daily. As Christians we accept Christ’s forgiveness and then turn around and act in a worldly way. We harness the power of God and then we turn away from it, still trying to rely on our own power that always gets us into trouble and leads us down a road of regret and torment. Then we come back crawling to God asking for forgiveness, full of regret, and try to “do good” to make up for it! WE CAN’T!
God shakes His head at us and our ignorance. We claim one thing then do another. We posses victory over this world then roll around in it, wondering how we got so dirty again. It frustrates me when I see people doing it, especially those I love. It upsets me even more when I catch myself doing it.
Paul’s reference to the calendar is in relation to converted Jews still observing old habits and traditions formed under the Law. Granted, habits are hard to break, even bad ones. They feel comfortable. But once we break free from them, the result is so much more rewarding.
It’s time we “let go and let God” guide and direct us. We need to take ourselves out of the picture. This is the daily sacrifice we hear so much about. It isn’t about my desires, my want to make things better, my desire to hold onto things I once enjoyed, or even my attempts to do good and make things better.
What can I possibly do that God can’t?
