Thursday 7 Feb 2013

Thursday Reading: Galatians 5:1-6

Key Verse: Galatians 5:3
3  For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.

Devotion:
How many times have you done something just because other people in the church have done it or do do it. I am not talking about having fun or doing something strange like bungee jumping but rather talking about those things that we ‘do’ for God. If we take this point that Paul raises here, that the Galatians were seeking to be circumcised even though they were not Jews. There were two thoughts about this practise at the time and still are; that in order to show that you are willing to live for God in the same way as the Jews that you should be willing to be circumcised, and the other that this is just a Jewish custom.

What is a custom? It is an agreed or stipulated rule that should be followed because that is what has always been done. God required that the Jews themselves were circumcised to remind themselves that they are set apart for Him. It was a constant reminder that men should be living for God and following all of His rules just as they had followed this rule to be circumcised. If the men of Galatia were wanting to be circumcised then that should mean that they were being bound by the same set of rules as the Jews and that they would have to carry out everything according to the Law as laid down my Moses for the Jews.

Christ, on the other hand, had set the people free by releasing them from that debt that they owed so that they would no longer be totally constrained by that Law but would be able to live under grace instead. As a Gentile we should not have to go through the same customs as the Jews because those laws applied to God’s chosen race, the Jews. Christ now wants us to live by faith and showing that we have an earnest hope in what He has given to us. If we go back to the Law then we are saying that what Christ has done was to no effect.

So instead of sticking to customs for customs sake, let us turn to Christ and do things for Him and not just because that is what others do. Christ has made us different so that we can be different. He has given us all different gifts to be used to fulfil the Gospel by taking it to others through the way that we live, not by sticking to customs but by showing that we believe in Christ and all that He has done for us and that we now live for Him in hope and faith.

Points to Ponder:
What customs have you go used to?

Do you live for Christ?