Chris finally read the first chapter!

Sorry, I know this is late. However I too like the first chapter of Galatians. There were a couple of sections that really spoke to me. The first comes from verse 6:

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. [/i]

While I believe the true intent of this passage was to warn the churches of Galatia against false prophets I think we can take a few things from it. I think it important to point out that the Christians in these churches were for the most part personally and intimately aware of Paul. They knew him. They knew his story and with Paul being an apostle they were keenly aware of the miraculous things God did in and through him. Yet what would make these Christians fall away? I think Satan used men and women who knew the truth to share a distorted view of the truth, one that appealed to the sin nature of the Galatians, to lead them away for the true gospel. While we may say "How stupid of them," I think we are in the same boat today.

Think of what the false Gospel would be for us. For me, being where I am at in life, I am tempted to pursue the things of the world. I look at those in my profession and I see many who have a lot of what the world has to offer. Now I have no idea how they came by those things, yet for myself I am tempted to leave my calling, adhering to the main responsibilities of it, to pursue those things. What I have come to realize is that by doing so I turn my back on what I believe. This may seem to be a stretch in imagination however I think not. For I believe that whether in our calling, in our faith, or our walk that if we reject one part of it, we then reject all of it. We cannot hold on to one part while neglecting or rejecting the other. One might speculate that we can still retain the essence of our calling, or faith, or our walk but I believe therein lies the trap. As God points out we cannot serve two masters.

The other area that God is speaking to me on comes from verse 10. The passage asks who we are trying to please? God or man? For me this is a huge struggle. For me I have spent my entire adult life pursuing what the world would consider a lark. I have nothing to show for it. I don't have wealth, a nice house, or the perfect family. In fact I have very little to show for it. Yet I am coming to realize that I am comparing myself to the world. I am trying to please the world. You know what, the world is not going to be impressed with me. Yet when I think of what I have done, what I have sacrificed to God, I know that God is pleased with me. I need to take comfort and pleasure in that. I was thinking on my way home last night that I could pursue the things of the world and have what I want for something like 35 more years, if I am lucky. Or I can continue to pursue the things of God and have my reward for eternity. I like the eternity thing a lot more.

I apologize if I rambled or sounded a little dry. My family calls me sinkhole of useless information. Yet what I shared came from my heart and in many ways was a reflection of my own thought process. Let me know what you think and let me know if I am way off track.