The Experience

Reading: Galatians 4:21-31

I think Ishmael kind of got a raw deal. Other people made some questionable choices—understandable, given the culture, but not ideal choices—but he was the one who mostly had to live with the results.

Granted, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Sure, he was a slave, but reading between the lines, Abraham still cared for him and was reluctant to send him away, and generally speaking, it sounds like Abraham was a good master to the slaves in his household.

But no matter how good the master is, very few of us would choose slavery. Or so we’d say…

Yet according to Paul in Galatians 4:21, that’s exactly what the Galatians were doing. Instead of embracing the freedom-truths of the Gospel, they preferred to focus on the rules of the law given to Moses.

As mentioned before, I can understand the appeal. But how many people get to choose between slavery and freedom? Not much of a choice, really, since choosing slavery ends in… slavery, with stubborn refusal to enjoy the pleasures of freedom.

But something holds us back. Maybe, like me, you prefer the “orderly” rules to the wild unknown. Maybe your analytical side likes the logic of the law. Maybe you feel better when you “earn” something.

Whatever the reasons, we have to get over ourselves! Even though we try to make it sound holy, our resistance is almost always about us. Time to shift the focus to Jesus and see what happens.