Reading your Bible for Today July 16

July 16: Galatians 2:15-19

KJV Key Verse: Galatians 2:19
19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

Devotion:
What would it be like if we were able to read every book and understand them perfectly first time? I think I may get a bit bored with reading because I would not be able to go back and read a book again. But God's Word is far more than just a book. God's Word is our daily bread. Through it we begin to understand more and more each day and this is why we should be reading it each day. Coming across passages like this, we begin to see how it is not just us who have the problem of not quite understanding some things. Paul's letter to the Galatians provoked them into thinking and trying not to justify everything they did. We often fall into that category too because we want to be able to give a reason for everything we do!

This does not mean we should just accept things we read, but to meditate on them to make sure we get God's side of The Word and not just our own understanding. Paul gives the reader the dilemma of thinking whether Jesus was in fact the one who showed us sin. The simple answer is yes, but no! Yes, Jesus is able to enlighten us about the sinners we are, but He used the law to prove we are sinners and not anything else. Thus, He did not show us sin, but rather He showed us how we can recognise how we have sinned.

Jesus wants us to continue to turn our back on sin – just like the law was put in place to teach men to turn away from sinful ways. Jesus has not changed the law. He has shown us the futility of trying to keep to every rule in the law since we will never be able to achieve it! But He does not require us to abandon the law, but to live up to the truth. If we were to turn round and go back to the law, we would be turning our backs on Christ. But if we turn our backs on the law, we turn our backs on His will in our lives.

If we want to be able to succeed in life, we have to make sure Christ is first in our lives and the law does not control our beliefs. If we do everything we can to stick to the law, we are trying to stick to something we can never attain. But if we stick with Christ, we stick to the only one who can lift us over those transgressions!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you go against peoples wishes?

How often do you ask God for forgiveness of those transgressions?