Friday Reading: Galatians 4:1-7
Key Verse: Galatians 4:7
7 So that you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, also an heir of God through Christ.
Devotion:
What is the youngest ruler, king or queen that you have heard of? There have been some pretty young rulers though most of the time you don’t get to hear about them until they are much older. Some may be born into a position but they are unlikely to have ultimate authority until they are in a position to understand the role they should take. You could look at two young children wearing the same clothes and you probably would not be able to say which one is born into a position of royalty because it is normally the clothes that give them away. How great a ruler that child will grow up to be depends entirely on the surroundings when they grow up.
When we were very young and did not understand our position within society we were very different people to who we are now; we were yet to learn the fullness of the laws that we now accept and live by. When we were young we learned from the world that surrounded us and learned to grow into that world. If we were not in the right surroundings, we would learn things that were not right and probably ended up in trouble! As this passage puts it, we were slaves to our world.
When we come to know Christ we are born into a new world where we will see things differently and where we will have to learn to grow again. We are then freed from the slavery of the world because we know what lies beyond the corruption that we grew up in. God sent Jesus to us because of all the corruption that we have to live in. He wanted us to see that we have an escape route by which we can learn to grow in good surroundings. God wants us to be heirs of His, to be like His own children by accepting His surroundings so that we may grow up in His love and in His care.
Points to Ponder:
What are some of the best memories you have as a young child?
Are you willing to grow up with God as your Father?
