Galatians 4

In Galatians Chapter 4, Paul continues talking to the Galatians about who they are in Christ.  He compares them to being children, who when young, are treated no different then the slaves.  They are still under the rule (or law) of the teachers and guardians.  Even though they are heirs, they have no rights at all. 

I do want to state here, the Jews treated their slaves well.  They cared about them and they were a part of their family.  They weren't treated the way slaves were treated back in early America when slaves were treated like third class citizens.  So when Paul refers to the children being no better than a slave, he isn't degrading the children...just stating that they had no rights to whatever decisions were made in the household.  They had no voice on their own life.  They had to do what they were told.

Anyway, when they became of an age (which was up to the father as to what age it would be), they were then given all the rights of the heir. 

The Jewish people were like these children, and when God decided it the right time, He sent His Son to redeem them from slavery.  God adopted them (us), to be His children.  We now have the right to call Him Abba (Daddy) Father.  In the book "The Shack," He is called "Papa."  Even though there has been a lot of theological arguments about that book, (it was a book of fiction, not facts), I do love that the author of the book refers to God as "Papa."    My husband is Papa to our grandchildren and he adores them and they adore him.  Papa is a wonderful name.  I also love the fact that I can call Him Daddy.  Daddy is someone to be intimate with.  Someone whose lap I can climb in and be held by when  I am afraid or sad or just need to be comforted.

Having this relationship with their Daddy, Paul is astounded that they can now turn their backs on Him.  He reminds them that they were freed from religious laws that required them to remember specific days, months, seasons and years  rather than walk in the freedom they received from God.  All those days of observance were created by man's laws, not Gods.  He worries that everything he taught them has been wasted on them. 

Paul reminds them that while he was with them, he became like them.  He was sick when he came, but they loved him in spite of his illness.  The Galatians were so happy to receive the Good News, that they didn't let Paul's illness affect them.  They let God's love shine through them without any prejudice or negative feelings. 

I always wonder just what Paul's illness was.  He states that they were willing to tear their eyes out for him.  Did something happen to his eyes when he was on the road to Damascus?  In Acts 9:8 it says that when Paul got up from the ground, he opened his eyes, but couldn't see anything.  He was blinded for three days.  In verse 16 God says Paul will suffer much for Him.  (Of course in reading Acts we know that Paul suffered in many ways, not just with his vision.)  In verse 18, after Ananias prays for him, something like scales fall off his eyes, and he can see again.  But I wonder if, when he saw that bright light, did something happen to his eyes.  Is this what his illness was?  I guess we won't know till we get to Heaven and meet him.

Anyway, he wonders what happened to them.  They had such a positive attitude when he was with them.  Now that he is away, they are listening to those who would make them slaves again.  He tells them that these others who are trying to turn them away from Paul's message want them to be devoted only to them.  They are like the Pharisees in Matthew 6 who do everything for themselves to receive man's praises.  They (the Pharisees), prayed out on the street so others could see them. They made sure they tithed as the trumpet was blown so the Jews would see them as they dropped their tithe in the offering box.  Why would the new Christians want to go back to that type of life?

Paul then goes on to remind them of the Old Testament story of Hagar and Sarah.  Because Sarah couldn't wait for God's promise, she sent Abraham to Hagar and they had a son.  This son was born a slave and would always be a slave.  He was not the son that God had promised. 

Hagar's children would become Arabia.  Her son would try to rule over Sarah's son.  Even today, Arabs are trying to take Israel away.  Sarah's impatience with God's promise has continued to cause more problems than she would ever imagine. 

Am I like Sarah?  Am I impatient for God's promises to me to come to fruition?  When I step out from under that promise and try to make those things happen in the flesh, do I realize the ripple affect it will have on generations to come?  Oh Daddy, my prayer is that I would wait and lean on You.  Help me to trust that You will bring that promise to life in Your time. 

Verses 29 through 31 say it all.
²⁹Furthermore, at that time the son who was conceived in a natural way persecuted the son conceived in a spiritual way. That’s exactly what’s happening now. ³⁰But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, because the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.” ³¹Brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman. (Italics are mine)

Because I am adopted, I am a part of the family of God!  I am so thankful that I am not a child of the slave but a child of the free woman. 

I've been doing a lot of online reading about families who adopt.  A lot of them have been going to other countries to adopt children who are so poor, sometimes all they own are the clothes on their back.  Sometimes they don't even own a pair of shoes!  But then a family will come and adopt them and bring them home to America.  Suddenly they go from nothing, to a home full of love.  They have more clothes and toys then they could ever have imagined.  They have more food to eat in one day than they used to have in a week!  They went from total hopelessness to a life full of hope.

These children really didn't know what they were missing.  Furthermore, they didn't seek out the families that found them...these families went looking for them.  Once they were brought into this family, they were loved unconditionally.  And they had all the same rights as the children who would have been born into this family.

This is how we are as God's adopted children.  We come to Him with nothing, and He gives us everything.  He loves us unconditionally.  There is nothing we can do to earn it.  Yet we tend to think we have to earn His love.  We are no different than these foolish, crazy Galatians!

I am so thankful that we have God's Word to learn from.  My prayer is that I would be more like Paul and less like those Galatians.  However, in order to be more like Paul, I need to stop listening to those who would turn me away from God.  I need to spend more time in His Word, more time in prayer, more time fellowshiping with those who are walking in grace and faith.  I need to know who I am as a King's kid!

Thank you Father, for loving me enough to forgive me for my foolish ways.  Thank you for sending your Son to take on all of my sins and allowing me to be adopted by You.  Thank you for using a man like Paul to love me enough to write letters of correction.  And thank you for giving some men the wisdom to preserve those letters so that 2000 years later we would be able to learn from them.  You are an amazing God.  Your ability orchestrate everything that happens is just awesome.  There are no words I could say that would truly be enough to convey how I feel.  I am at Your mercy.  I stand at the foot of the Cross and lift my arms in praise. 

Be blessed,

Sue