May 5 | Galatians 5:13-26
DAILY READING
Galatians 5:13-26
REFLECTION
The Promised Gift
by Diane Ward
About 49 AD Paul wrote an urgent letter to the Galatian’s in which he dealt with serious problems. Galatia was a large Roman province extending coast to coast through the mountains and plains of central Turkey.
Paul’s basic issue concerned “teachers who insisted the Gentile Christians must keep the Jewish law.” For Paul, there was only one thing worth glorying in; the power of the cross of Christ to re-create and transform human lives. We are saved by God’s grace alone and we appropriate that by faith, by placing all our confidence in what Jesus has done for us. It is a staggering gift, a “get out of jail free card.” Paul taught there is responsibility with our spiritual freedom as well, to use our freedom in a way that honors the One who made us free. As Jesus loved us, so we should love one another.
The mystery of the Spirit – “The wind blows where it wishes, where it wills, free and unconstrained. It is by the will of the Spirit and not of man. (John 3:8) I stood at the bedside of (my patient my friend,) watching his last breath. Only I and a friend were with him. His friend had
begun praying in what sounded like an old Indian dialect. Suddenly a strong wind blew through the room leaving quickly and I knew Jesse had gone home.