Scripture Passage
You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years. I fear for you. (Galatians 4:10-11 NLT)
Observation
I read recently about a young actress who made boatloads of money in a series of popular movies. The thing is, she didn’t know it. While her wealth accumulated, her parents had kept her on a strict allowance of $75 a week. (Yeah, I know, $75 a week doesn’t sound too restrictive to me, either…but it’s all relative, right?) In recent days, however, the actress celebrated a key birthday and learned the details of what she possessed. She'd been completely unaware and was utterly beside herself with amazement at what was hers.
Her story parallels ours. The Apostle Paul says, “That’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. …Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.” (Galatians 4:3-5, 7 NLT)
The trouble is (and this is the reason Paul writes Galatians), we forget our favored status as children of God…and we forget how we received it—God’s grace! We too easily go back to attempting to “earn our place”. We miss the freedoms, privileges, and blessings that are ours simply because of who Christ is to us and what He has done for us!
“Why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world? You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.” (Galatians 4:9-10 NLT)
It may not be the observance of certain days, months, seasons, or years by which we hope to gain God's favor (or it may!), but God’s favor is always His gift through Jesus Christ, never something I earn. Anytime culture, religion, or Satan himself suggests otherwise, Galatians stands against the lie.
None of this diminishes the significance of my actions (cf. Galatians 5:13). Rather, it changes the basis for my behavior. Instead of earning my favor with God through righteous living, I simply reflect through my life the relationship of favor that already exists. “So help me today, God, to live a life that reflects the grace and favor you’ve given me in Jesus Christ!”
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