Galatians 4:8-11 Don’t Box Yourself In

Format for Your Devotions

Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.

Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.

Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.

Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.

Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?

Step 5: Apply this to your own life.

Step 6: Prayer

My Example Devotion: June 11, 2020 Galatians 4:8-11

Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) The Galatians used to worship demons in the form of idols.  They were slaves of those demons.  Now they know the true God, so they know His character, power, and love, but more importantly, they have experienced God’s caring and desires for them.  Paul says that after experiencing that kind of relationship with God of knowing Him and being known by Him in a personal way, how can they go back to the same kind of relationship with the Father that they had with demons?  How can they go back to living under arbitrary rules that determine their standing with God rather than simply living in relationship with Him.  How can they go from a beautiful interaction through the Spirit to a legalistic following the rules in order to have God approve of them?  Paul’s point is that God already knows them and accepts them, so to act like He needs them to do something to win His approval is taking a step backwards to the same kinds of attitudes towards idols that they used to have.  They are treating Jesus like an idol rather than as a Savior.

(Understanding the Text) I don’t understand observing days and months and seasons and years.  I will have to check out the commentary.  The SDA commentary says that the term “you observe” in Greek implies that the Galatians were observing with “scrupulous care.”  With regard to “days and months,” it says “Paul here refers to the seven ceremonial sabbaths and the new moons of the ceremonial system (see Lev. 23; Num 10:10; 28:11-15).  There is no basis in Scripture for assuming, as some do, that the ‘days’ of which Paul here speaks refer to the seventh-day Sabbath.  Nowhere in the Bible is the seventh day referred to in the language here used.  Furthermore, the seventh-day Sabbath was instituted at creation (see on Gen. 2:1-3; cf. on Ex. 20:8-11), before the entrance of sin and some 2,500 years before the inauguration of the ceremonial system at Mt. Sinai.  If observance of the seventh-day Sabbath subjects a man to bondage, it must be that the Creator Himself entered into bondage when He observed the world’s first Sabbath!  And that conclusion is unthinkable.”  Seasons refers to “the annual set festivals of the Jewish religious calendar.”  Years refers to “the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee.” 

Paul is worried that the people that he worked so hard with so that they could understand Jesus’ love for them are going to be lost because they have turned away from the true worship of God to treating God like He is a tyrannical idol who insists on arbitrary rules in order to be saved.

(Application / Prayer) My application is that there is a tendency in myself also to forget that You love me as I am and that I don’t need to DO anything to earn Your approval, except to keep on trusting You to love me.  I feel like I need to do something to serve You, and that is good, but when I let that desire to serve become a barrier to trusting Your love for me and approval of me, then I am attributing characteristics to You that are simply not there.  Help me to see You clearly, whether I am in active service or simply sitting at home.