August 19, 2010
Galatians 3
Pastor John Edwards
Back in 1998, I had it all figured out. Identify the desired amenities and affordable price range, search the housing market, analyze it, then bid on a house. I would make a sound business decision, providing the ideal home for my family.
After all, I knew how to do it. It was just a matter of time. As a Christian, God would be so pleased with my stewardship and wisdom.
Then the fateful day came…my family and I had seen the last home on the list. It wasn’t the right one either. Faced with no more options, my disappointment moved quickly to voiced frustration.
The next moment is etched indelibly in my spirit as, from the back of the van, I heard one of my children: “God knows the house that we’re supposed to live in,” said J.C., a 10-year-old who rarely spoke up in situations like that. “We’ll know it when we see it.”
This young sage had spoken a penetrating truth. The leader became the learner. My wife and I exchanged looks as I drove. In that moment, the pronouns “I” and “my” became “His.” Within a matter of days, our real estate agent called with some news…the price of another house had been reduced, and fell within our price range.
We’re still living there. God did it, I didn’t.
Galatians 3:3 takes me back to that personal life lesson: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” While not usually given to visualizations, I can almost “see” the Apostle Paul’s piercing eyes as he throws down this spiritual gauntlet - calling believers to an unwavering faith-walk in Jesus Christ, opposed to a rules-and-regulations approach to their daily lives.
My Christian journey – and yours – began with the Spirit of God. He drew us to places of surrender. We had come to the end of our meager capacity, and we knew it. It was time to turn the “steering wheel” over to Jesus Christ, inviting Him to be Lord…beyond merely calling Him that.
As we move forward in our spiritual journey, a natural human tendency is to slowly and sometimes imperceptibly place some fingers back on the wheel. As we become busy “doing things for God” (especially true in the church), we can actually point to Jesus as our reason for doing things on our own. After all, we’re serving Him…right? It’s insidious, and the enemy of our souls loves it.
“Are you so foolish?” Paul’s question penetrates to the core.
Pastor John is inspired and challenged by three favorite Bible characters - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – for their “unwavering faith and bold action.”
