​Yokes of Slavery

I'm currently taking a deep dive into Galatians in my personal Bible study. In chapter four Paul chides the Galatians for putting themselves under the authority of a religious calendar—the Jewish structure of dividing the year into festivals. He includes also, the pagan practice to do the same, calling them elementary principles. This all comes in the context of Paul explaining that we are now sons and daughters of God through Christ. Mature sons and daughters don’t need babysitters. They are secure members of a family that stand to inherit all. This is our true identity, reinforced in us by the presence of the Spirit in our lives. One of Satan’s chief tools against us is to get us to willingly surrender what we have in Christ for something far inferior, a giving away of our security and dignity, our freedom and power. This is a powerful temptation. We all like to feel that we are part of something. We like to feel that we are led by others we can trust. Both of these are illusions. We are part of something already. We are brothers and sisters of all who are in Christ. We have community on a level far beyond physical families. These are eternal relationships. Also, we don’t need to give away our power to human leaders. We are to call one person Lord. We are only to follow those who are living like Him and when ordered to sin declare that we must obey God and not men. So, in our present age where people are being conditioned to be mindless followers, where media and political parties have such powerful influence, it is crucial that Christians know who they are and to whom they bow their knee.