wait…I wasn’t finished..
Have you ever said, “Wait…I wasn’t finished!” when conversing with someone…or have you ever heard someone say it to you?
I hate to admit it, because I try not to interrupt people, but I am guilty of both…saying it and hearing it.
As I’ve been reading and studying through God’s word on a new bible plan this year, I feel like He is showing me new connections each day. The old and the new testaments are so intricately woven together it always humbles my heart to read His word and see the depth of God’s love for us, His children. I marvel at God’s omniscience!!
Lately I feel like the full context of God’s word has been refining my heart in ways I never would have imagined as a babe in Christ. I feel His Spirit beckoning my heart, “I’m wasn’t finished…” as I read His word. I can’t stop at one verse, one chapter, one book. I feel the sweet whisper of my Lord, “Read on…dear one…read on….soak it in, this is my word…living and active.”
It’s as if I am reading His word for the first time. Oh how alive His word is!!
I have been so incredibly convicted and blessed by Galatians, the whole book!
I have been soaking in the words of chapter three for a few weeks now. I can’t seem to move on.
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” Galatians 3:1-4
How quickly, dear friend, do we get caught up in the flesh? Being “perfected by the flesh?” I read and reread Luther’s commentary on Galatians and just wept! Mainly because how easily is it in our culture (as Americans) to be the foolish Galatians that Paul addresses? We have hierarchies of sin within the body, we pass judgment, we follow legalism, we certainly worship ourselves far above our neighbors in our society, and let’s be honest…that’s just within the church. I tell you dear friend…I am the worst sinner of all. I say these words without one ounce of ill will or judgment toward any. I say them to confess….the LORD alone is good!! The Lord alone saves..the Spirit Himself…it is the work of the Holy Spirit in us by the grace of God that leads us.
“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” Galatians 5:7
I once heard from someone who I looked up to spiritually, “That’s good preaching but that’s not good living.” My heart literally HURT. Dear ones, God clearly shows us…good preaching…is good living. What I mean by that is we are to live out what He teaches us in His word! Will we do it perfectly? NO! But I am convinced that the more we refuse to be hindered in obeying the truth of God’s word by refusing to listen to the lies of this world, and rather run to Jesus, we will live out a life for His glory!! We will run well! We will continue to be sanctified by Him!
I simply want to encourage you dear sister, get into God’s word and soak in the beauty of His glory. Be on your face and ask Him to give you a hunger and thirst for His word as you never have before, and then prioritize your time. You do have the time to be in God’s word, you may just have to give something else up…and I can’t think of anything on this earth that is better than a sweet time of studying and meditating on the Word of God!! I believe you will find that God’s word is altogether captivating and just because you’ve read a verse or a chapter or a book before, dear one, God is infinite and He isn’t finished with you (or I) yet, He is using His living and active word to refine us for His glory!!
