In the Kay Arthur study guide that I am using along with my Bible, there is always a thought for the week. I wanted to post this week's thought because I keep thinking about it.
I just finished up a week on Chapter 4 comparing Hagar's Son with Sarah's son; freedom versus bondage. Adoption: from slave to son and since a son an heir.
She states, "There is nothing more debilitating in your relationship with God than to think you please God only when you keep your own little spiritual list of do's and don'ts or someone else's list which has been imposed on you. When you feel God will only bless you when you don't cross any of your man-made religious boundaries, you live in bondage to legalism or to the law.
If you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, then, my friend, you are a beloved child of God. You are His heir forever. You are the child of the free woman. Jerusalem is your home. You are not under condemnation. God's blessing for you is that of grace, not performance. You are an heir according to God's unchangeable promise. The Holy Spirit dwells within you and will never leave you nor forsake you. You will live with God forever and ever. You will never be cast out. So cast out the bondwoman and her son. You are under grace not law, and when you walk in that grace you will be all you should and can be. Grace doesn't make you lawless; it simply sets you free from bondage God's way, so you can live a life that is pleasing to God."
It always strikes me how we are so prone to putting ourselves into bondage to some person, list, or perceived requirements. It's hard sometimes to trust that we'll flourish in the freedom, so we end up binding ourselves again to whatever the current "key to holiness and happiness" is. Thanks for the reminder of who our true key really is!
ReplyDeleteI love your word picture here Lorri, "It's hard sometimes to trust that we'll flourish in the freedom, so we end up binding ourselves again..."
ReplyDeleteI think we want to please Him so badly, that we'll settle for chains thinking God will be pleased. But over and over in His Word He implores us to unshackle ourselves and to be free. It actually limits us in Christ when we do this and God is definitely not pleased by limitations that we put in His Son's work on the cross.
Thank you so much for sharing--I literally have goosebumps on my arms.
ReplyDeleteI also love Lorri's comment--so insightful! And I want to highlight the rest of her sentence--"whatever the current 'key to holiness and happiness' is." We can be so tempted to bop around, influenced by every new wave of teaching, and think THIS is what I need to do--now I know!!!
. . .When it's faith expressing itself through love that is desired--not the sacrifices. I love that verse and the graphic with it!! Where did you find it? That verse is super highlighted and underlined in my Bible! :)