majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Galatians 4:12,
"I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you."
As Paul admonishes his readers to reject the false teaching that has
come their way, he pleads with them. In verse 20 he tells them how
perplexed he is about them and of his desire that they remain true to
the gospel he faithfully brought to them. It is this pleading of his
that catches my eye this morning. It brings to my mind something that
we all assume, that theologians love to discuss endlessly and is one
of the most important aspects of the nature of man's relationship to
God: God has given us our own wills to exercise at our own discretion.
Within the constraints of life that God has placed us all, such as
that we all face death, that we are all have certain limitations (e.g.
we can't fly like birds), etc. we are free to make our own choices.
These choices we are free to make determine our eternal destiny. Paul
pleads with his hearers to choose Jesus Christ as he shares the gospel
message. After Paul delivered the gospel message to King Agrippa in
Festus' courtroom, the king responds, "Do you think that in such a
short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Acts 26:28. Paul
replies that is exactly his intent. Here in this letter to the
Galatian church he pleads with these believers not to abandoned the
faith they began, appealing to the exercise of their own wills.
God has given us each a will which is a reflection of our being made
in his image. I suspect God is not concerned with many of the choices
we make, such as which chair we sit in at the table, but there are
those we make that are important to him.
The upshot for me in God giving us our own free will to exercise is
that it provides the context in which real love and real worship can
take place. Not a manufactured love and worship, but real and
spontaneous - the type that comes from our own exposure to that which
is breath-taking. All we need do is behold the magnificence of God's
majestic splendor to fall in love with him, to worship him... and it
all starts with a decision to do so...
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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