Monday, January 27, 2025

            Paul’s Galatian letter was written to a church that was struggling.  This community of believers were battling and scuffling against a pull to return to legalism and the strict insistence upon keeping and upholding Jewish laws.  Almost immediately, the apostle corrected the Galatians by writing, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all” (Galatians 1:6-7a).  Then in chapter five, Paul concluded that, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
            The early church saw a constant tussle between freedom in Christ and the legalism of old Jewish ways and customs.  Christ did not abolish the law but He did fulfill it.  We add nothing to the biblical reality that we are justified by grace through faith—not by any works whatsoever.  In writing to the Galatians in a fatherly way, Paul seemed to look upon them mournfully or nostalgically by saying, “You were running a good race.  Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” (Galatians 5:7).  Those words and that question could easily resonate with us at times.  We may find ourselves running a good race but then something happens and we find ourselves relegated to the margins or sidelines.
            Sometimes we allow sin to get into the way and knock us off course.  We succumb to temptation and the enemy’s strategies and we stall and sputter in our race of faith.  Occasionally, discouragement and despair can drive us to the sidelines.  We lose the energy and drive we once had for worship, serving, growing and building up the Kingdom of Christ.  Busyness can rob us of the time, energy and focus that we would like to devote to serving the Lord.  We often just drop out for no good reason.  Paul’s question, “who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?” gives us the image of another car swerving in front of us or another motorist merging in front of us at a dangerous moment. 
            We can understand that the enemy would use almost anything to take our eyes off Christ.  Pride is one such thing.  We often think we can handle everything by ourselves and in our strength and have little, if any, need of the Lord.  Paul’s leading point is that we have to stay on course and consistently run the race that is before us.  Distractions are manifold and plentiful—and even seemingly good and noble pursuits.  But there is the most pressing thing and the best thing to which we are called and that is to finish the race that is laid out before us that the Lord has given us to run.  Hebrews 12 says, “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” 
            As he approached the end of his life, Paul noted how much he cherished the reality that he had “fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). How do we run consistently?  We spend time in God’s Word faithfully and daily.  Pray. Worship with other believers.  Serve the Lord in the ways that He gives to you.  Tithe.  Cast all your cares on the Lord.  Stand for goodness and truth.  We call these practices “spiritual disciplines” because they help us to grow and they discipline us into being better disciples. It takes discipline to be a disciple of Christ.  And a disciple of Christ is a practitioner of Christian disciplines.  We serve the Lord over a lifetime through small daily steps.  A month of service may look different than a day of service and faith.  But we must understand that a month of service or faith is comprised of individual days.  Running the daily race of faith that the Lord has placed before you enables you to run longer races over months, years, decades and finally a lifetime. Take a moment today to see what other things or interferences might cut in front of you as you run the race set before you.  Renew your commitment to the small, daily practices of faith that will keep you on course and minimize the distractions and diversions that the enemy may set before you.  Have a great Monday! Remember you can share our worship anytime at YouTube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.