Monday, February 4, 2019

Devotion - Monday, February 4

This morning I was directed to Galatians 4:1-10.  It was verses 8-9 which became the focus of my reflection and the basis of my prayer petitions:

Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods.  Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits?

The phrase which stood out is the one I emphasized.  "or rather to be known by God."  The faith of the Church, the way of faith spoken of by Jesus, the faith of Jesus is passive.  We do not work in order to achieve something; we come to understand that something has happened to us!  We are known by God.

Forget for the moment what that says about the possibility that this wording might imply that there are some who are not known by God.  That is a topic for another time.  What the writer of Galatians tells us is we need no longer be on the treadmill of searching and seeking and fear and worry.  The writer almost throws this in as an afterthought.  The phrase is inserted into an otherwise complete sentence.  It seems that lest we forget something assumed to be at the core of our relationship with God, he makes quick reference to one of the foundations on which his current illustration is based.

And yet, we forget this foundation.  We forget and we once again fall prey to the fallacy that we might not have done what we ought or thought what we must.  We turn back to the weak and beggarly spirits.

You are known by God!  Life with that assurance and with the confidence it gives.

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