Galatians 3:23-29 (NRSV)
Read Galatians 3:23-29 on biblegateway.com
Verse 23Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Verse 24Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. Verse 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, Verse 26for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. Verse 27As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Verse 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Verse 29And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Devotion
Paul tells us that we are all one in Christ and in Christ we are all children of God. He says, in Christ, there are no distinctions. What an amazing thing it would be if we could live this out daily. If we could permanently reject the expectations of the world that divide us into homogeneous little cliques and live out the promise that through faith we belong to Christ, we would truly be living in the complete joy of God! The first thing we would notice in this new life of unity in Christ is that it is complete chaos. It would be a beautiful godly chaos and shortly we would need a committee to manage it. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait for Christ’s return to see this in full, but right now I’m fighting against the committee and rooting for the godly chaos.
Prayer
God of the beautiful chaos, break down our barriers to your Spirit’s movement. Loosen our hearts from the chains we ourselves have secured with lock and key. We commit our lives to your mission of reconciliation. In Christ’s love, Amen.