Saturday, July 5th
Read: Galatians 4:8-11
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.
Spend a few minutes discussing questions you have about the passage. Here are a few to get you started:
Should we continue to be a slave to the world?
Do you find yourself going through the motions?
How are we freed from this bondage?
Have you ever gone to one of those wacky youth weekends? I’ve gone to a bunch. They always start with all the girls who haven’t seen each other since the last shindig screaming, then running, then embracing, then screaming more, then jumping up and down. It is a good time getting together for a weekend of spiritual pump. I remember being at one of these winter retreats where something happened when the speaker was talking. Next thing I know we’re singing, “I have decided to follow Jesus [x3]… No turning back, no turning back.” I’m up there kneeling at a bench weeping with two close friends. After wiping my tears and eating lunch I was on my way home— a new person!
The only problem was that I didn’t really change after that event. The next week I would be stuck in the same old habits and experiences–lying to my parents, not getting along with my siblings, manipulating my friends and trying to fit in by doing the wrong things. It turned out that my songs were a lie. How could I do this? The speaker’s talks, the worship team’s songs and my friends’ prayers didn’t mean much for me.
Maybe the Galatians weren’t much different than me. Before Paul, they were stuck in habitual sin— slaves of their culture and cults. They had truly experienced God and His truth, however, Paul saw them entering slavery again. BUT— the new slavery wasn’t exactly old habitual sin. The slavery was following a list of religious rules: what to eat, what not to eat, what to wear, when to wash. If they kept the right rules they could be accepted. What a miserable way to live— always looking over your shoulder to fit the ‘new status quo.’ They lost their identity with God, caring more about what people thought than living in response to God.
Could it be that when people come to us, the body of Christ, we make them enter a form of slavery too? A kind that is just as bad as doing all the wrong things to ‘fit in?’ In your youth group do you have any social rules that you get people to follow rather than let them figure out what God is saying to them and respond to it?
Maybe this was my problem. I don’t think I was really taught how to respond to God. I know I had an encounter with Him, but, I wasn’t taught to know Him and live a new life directed by Him. I tried on my own to do what was right but didn’t allow the Holy Spirit to guide me in a new spiritual life. No wonder I failed. Real obedience comes from knowing God and doing what He says – not trying to be like everyone else or following a list of do’s and don’ts.
Process:
– Do you know God? Do you ask Him what He wants you to do? How can you know what God wants? Do you do it?