Galatians 5:1-15.  Jesus came to set us free.  The Bible teaches that we are slaves, Our desires are masters over us that push us to do things that make God unhappy.  The laws that were given to the Israelites were a constant reminder of that.  When a person wanted to identify with the Jews there was a particular sign, a guy had to be circumcised.  If you don’t know what that is ask your parents.  It was a surgical procedure that would be very painful for an older person (Check out the story in Genesis 34).  Paul says that if you go that way, if you want to live under the rules, that you need to keep all of them.  And we all know that we fail at that.  The law just shows us we are slaves.  Jesus, however, set us free.  When he took our punishment he opened the door for the Holy Spirit to live in our lives.  Then with the help of the spirit we could begin to live for God.  And when we fail the forgiveness is still there.  We are free.  There were two parts tot he trouble in Galatia though.  There were the Judaizers who were trying to make new Christians live under the Jewish rules and there were some new Christians who realized that God had forgiven them and felt like they could do what ever when ever.  To them Paul says, “Stop!” They were not to use the freedom from punishment as an opportunity to live like little wild men they were to use their new freedom (and the help of the Holy Spirit as we will see tomorrow) to serve one another in love.  Paul reminds them of what Jesus had said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. This statement along with “You shall love God with ll that you are” really summed up and fulfilled all of the rules that had been given to Moses.  the Llaw cannot make us right but if you want to really want to make God happy love Him and others (Matthew 22:34-30).  Lord thank you for setting me free from the penalty of my disobedient life.  Help me not use the freedom to continue down that path.  I want to please you and look forward to eternity with you.  Help me be a pleasing child of yours today.  Let me serve others well.

Galatians 4:21-31.  If you read the “Old Testament Connection” you might remember that I mentioned Abraham.  I also mentioned how God had promised Abraham a son but after many years of waiting he and Sarah, his wife, took matters into their own hands and Sarah had Abraham get her servant pregnant (Genesis 16:1-16).  Did you notice that Sarah and Abrahams name were different.  (See the “What’s in a Name” page).  The servants name was Hagar and the child was Ishmael. Eventually Sarah did have a son who’s name was Isaac.  Both sons had several sons and produced large nations, but it was Isaac’s family that would produce the promised “seed” that would be a blessing to the nations.  Through his grandson, Jacob (Israel) the nation of Israel (Jews) would come and the promised  descendant, Jesus.  Now here is where it gets a little confusing.  The center of the Jewish nations was and is Jerusalem.  It was the capital and also the place where God’s one and only temple was built.  But worship of God under the Jewish system (the Old Testament Law or custom of Moses (Acts 15:1)) is what Paul is comparing to Hagar and Ishmael in the reading.  Hagar was a slave and her children were slaves and in a similar way the Jews are slaves too.  Why?  Because the rules that Moses delivered to the Israelites depended on the Israelites to obey them.  Laws need to be followed.  But Israelites did not follow them, they listened to their own internal wants and desires instead.  Just like all of us do.  The Bible calls our internal desires “the flesh”.  Hagar and Ishmael represent the desires of “the flesh” and the Jewish system works or doesn’t work really by “the flesh”.  So although Hagar and Ishmael have nothing to do with the Jewish religion their positions as slaves is bieng used by Paul as an example.  On the other hand Isaac was the son who was promised to Abraham and through him Jesus would come and God’s promise to bless the nations.  So even though Isaac’s descendants through Jacob would be the Jews who lived under the Old Testament Law Isaac himself is a reminder of the promise that God made to Abraham which Abraham believed by faith.  Just like Ishmael and his descendants were trouble for Isaac and his descendants through out history the Jews were now being trouble for the people who had put their faith in Jesus (Galatians 4:28-29).  So Paul compares Christians to the Jews and Jews to the Ishmaelites.  The comparison is about slavery and freedom, trying to live up to some rules on our own power to get to God or letting God help us, through the Holy Spirit, show our appreciation for the gift he gave us.  Our sins paid for by Jesus and adoption into His family.  I like the last verses of the reading, “so brothers we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.”  Lord help me show my appreciation for making me free.  I really was born a slave.  I did lots of things that made me happy and you sad.  Thank you for the Holy Spirit and the Bible which together help me see what makes you happy.  Help me listen to both and show my appreciation with my life for the gift of eternity in Heaven with you.