A New Devotion - Don’t Be Foolish

 Here's a new devotion that I wrote. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Galatians 3:1-5

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing? — if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

Don’t Be Foolish

Paul said that the Galatians had become foolish. You see, in the past, he’d told them all about grace, you know, how it was a gift of God given through the Holy Spirit, something in which a person could trust but never earn. And because they’d accepted this message, Paul reminded those Galatians that they’d felt a new sense of peace and hope, something they’d never experienced in the past. Now that’s what had happened when he shared with them the truth of the Gospel. 

But for some reason, they’d turned from that message of grace. And instead of just claiming this incredible gift, they started working in new rules and commands which they felt they needed to follow. Of course, I’m sure they had several reasons for doing it. For example, since it involved their future, maybe they felt that they needed something more concrete than just trust. Or maybe they thought that incorporating obedience into their faith would give them more control. Or maybe their decision was motivated by something else. We just don’t know. But for Paul, the reason was not relevant. You see, it didn’t matter why they did what they did. For him, they were turning from the truth to follow a lie and abandoning the Spirit for the sake of the flesh. And because of that, they were being foolish.

And you know, as modern Christians continue to construct their own systems to determine salvation and apply those rules and laws to themselves and to others, I think we need to hear these words of Paul and to make the decision that we’re not going to be foolish either.