Daily Devotional for Wednesday 6th March
People of Promise
Not long ago, there was an international rugby match played in pouring rain. The pitch became muddier and muddier, and the players got dirtier and dirtier. The spectators couldn’t tell which side was which. Then the referee discovered that even he could no longer recognize who was on which side. Finally, the players themselves couldn’t tell the difference between their own side and the opposition.
So, the referee offered them the chance to go and change into clean kit. One side refused, they were proud of their national jerseys, and didn’t want to look like cowards, changing out of wet clothes into dry ones. The other side were delighted, and went off to change into warm, dry kit. When they came out again, not only could everyone tell the difference between the two sides; the side in the clean kit felt so much better that they went on to win the match.
By this point in Galatians Paul realizes that there are so many interlocking issues on the table that it’s time to sort out what’s what. The different elements of the argument have become quite muddy in the debate between himself and his opponents, with the Galatians trying to make sense of it all in between. So, he decides on a plan that will make it clear to all concerned just who is on which side.
Back he goes to one of the least happy episodes in the Book of Genesis: the story of Abraham’s wife and Abraham’s concubine, and the sons that each of them bore. And he uses this as a picture of what’s going on in his own day. (The story is set out in Genesis 16 and 21 if you want to read it).
Paul says, supposing Abraham really does have two families: how can you tell which side is which? Which side is really the slave-family, and which is the free? The key is that the true family – the Isaac-family, in other words – is the one created by God’s promise. Abraham and Sarah decided to try having children through Hagar, without any promise of God; Ishmael was therefore born ‘according to the flesh’. Isaac, though, was born according to God’s promise.
From here on, all the other parts of the picture – the other players on the two teams if you like – become recognizable. The point Paul wants to emphasize is that ‘we’ (that’s Paul himself, and those who believe the gospel he has preached) cannot be labelled as outsiders, second-class citizens, or Abraham’s illegitimate family. Those who believe the gospel are, like Isaac, promise-people, the free family of God.
Time to reflect…
In Christ, we find our true identity as children of God. In Christ, you are loved.
Spend some time with God, reflecting on this verse from 1 John 3:1and allow Him to lavish His love on you.
‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’
Pause to pray…
Thank you, Lord, that we are a people of promise, and we belong in your family - we are recognised as yours. Help us to be quick to welcome everyone in, especially those who may feel like outsiders or second-class citizens. Amen.
