Growing Up Series

Turning back to weak and miserable principles: when we are growing as a Christian, and we are focused on our relationship with Jesus and doing the will of God, we are submitting ourselves to his leadership and we are operating on His principles, the ideal situation.

But there are times when it is tempting for us to try to run back into our cages, back to our old ways, those weak and miserable principles.

Paul is upset that the Galatians are observing special days and months and seasons and years. The Galatians are being pulled back to a form of legalism by the false Jewish teachers, who were still observing Sabbath day laws, new moon festivals, and yearly festivals like Passover.

These were all mere types and shadows, things that were pointing to the messiah. They were fulfilled in Jesus and no longer needed.

With a personal relationship with Jesus, you no longer need those things.

When I used to go on business trips, I would have a picture of Sally and Alex and Katie in my wallet. When I missed them terribly I would take out the picture and look at them, it reminded me that I would see them again soon.

Now after I get home, I don’t sit across from them in the living room staring at their picture, I don’t need the picture anymore, it was a mere shadow, pointing me home to where my family is. I put down the picture and I pick up my kids, I kiss my wife. I have the real thing.

We don’t need special days, and festivals to make us think of Jesus, we have the real thing, Jesus living in our hearts. Every day we can talk to Him, sit in his lap, feel his presence, have a real relationship with Him.

Legalism is only one form of sliding back into slavery. There are many others.

The judaisers were addicted to the law, they acted like slaves to it.

Some people are addicted to others things, and they let their addiction turn them into slaves.

Some are slaves to a substance, others to a behavior.

There are addictions to drugs and alcohol that can rob a person of their ability to think clearly and be sober minded. It can destroy entire lives and families.

Other addictions are more subtle, but can be just as destructive.

Addiction to pornography is at an all time high, it is all too easy to access by internet and it is a killer of marriages and families. It is one of the most insidious tools used by Satan to drive a wedge between people who love each other, and between a person and their relationship with God.

Addiction to work is dangerous, because on the surface, we tend to see it as noble. We admire a person who works hard. But there are lines that shouldn’t be crossed. God loves hard work too, but he doesn’t condone neglect of one’s family and he certainly doesn’t condone neglect of one’s relationship with Him.

Anything that builds itself up and becomes somehow more important and a higher priority than God and family is NOT from God, and must be resisted.

Even service to the church can be overdone. Satan loves to see a burnt out Christian

Satan is a master at whispering in our ear and tempting us to shift our priorities away from God’s ideal “just temporarily” in order to “get things done”