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Published: 08 July 2018

That sounds awful.  I have fallen out of trees.  I have fallen off of ladders.  I have fallen on the ice.  I even fell in the toilet once!  As awful as all of those events were, it would be even worse to fall from grace.  That phrase is in our text this week as we start our foray into chapter 5 of Galatians.  Of course it has received a lot of attention and interpretations of what it means are numerous.  We must remember that Paul was writing to believers who were being tempted to drift into legalism.  I don’t think he was telling them that they could lose their salvation but I do think he was reminding them that going back to the rules and regulations of the Mosaic Law would be a painful fall.  They would be leaving the liberty of grace for the bondage of legalism.  Since the Cold War is technically over, I can say this…leaving grace for legalism would be like moving from the USA to the USSR in 1968.  Why would anyone do that?   Paul was warning the people he loved that the move to legalism would not be what they thought.  As Americans, we have been thinking about our freedoms this week and rejoicing with fireworks, hot dogs and apple pie.  Please remember that liberty never comes without struggle…in nations or in our lives with God.  By God’s grace and through faith, we have His provision for our struggle.  We’ll learn more about that on the Lord’s Day

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Published: 01 July 2018

I read an interesting article recently by Patricia Hampl; she is the author of a book titled, “The Art of the Wasted Day.”  What she describes sounds a lot like Sabbath but she never really referred to Sabbath in the newspaper article and I haven’t read the book.  In the article she refers to things like musing, napping, pausing, gazing, curiosity, hammocks and shade trees.  I smiled a lot when I read her suggestions and felt like taking a book and a lawn chair beneath a shady tree and simply reading leisurely until I fell asleep.  I didn’t.  I had stuff to get done .  It’s one thing to intentionally waste some time and I think it’s a good idea; I actually try it now and then.  However, it’s another matter altogether when we have worked hard on something and it didn’t produce or turn out like we had hoped.  It is when we wonder if we have wasted our time when we were trying to invest our time that is very disappointing.  That’s what Paul meant in Galatians 4:11. After all he had gone through and all he had taught the Galatians about life and living, it appeared they were going backwards!  It made him wonder if he had wasted his time.  Of course we know he didn’t, but it’s hard not to feel that way at times, even for an apostle.  Have people invested in you?  Have you learned some lessons about life with God?  Do you have His Spirit?  Don’t squander what God has given to facilitate abundant life.  Bring forth some dividends on that investment!