S. O. A. P.
Here’s your 90 second AM devotional!
S-cripture:
Galatians 4:28
Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise.
O-bservation:
St. Paul the Apostle spoke here to the Christians in Galatia, which is now modern-day Turkey. Obviously Turkey wasn’t a Jewish place and not much of a Christian place either. But Paul had given them some Jewish history about the sons of Abraham: Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was the child Abraham conceived of the slave woman Hagar, and he was known as the “Child of the Flesh” in Scripture. But Isaac was the “Child of Promise.” Paul went on to tell these new Christians in Galatia that they too were “Children of Promise.”
A-pplication:
What an awesome word of encouragement Paul gave the Christians in Galatia. Remember, not one of them was raised in a Christian home. They were the first Christians in that area. Prior to being “Jesus Followers,” they were most likely pagans or Jews. Now they were part of this religious sect (as the world would have defined it) called Christians. So I can only imagine that they felt completely ostracized from friends and family. Now, this Great Apostle named Paul, said to them … “You are Children of Promise.” But there is a much bigger truth here. If this “Mixed Bag” of folks that made up the first church in Galatia were called “Children of Promise,” certainly there’s hope for you and me. We are no less a “Mixed Bag.” But we need to remember today, with all of the warts and baggage we possess, that God has also called us His “Children of Promise.”
P-rayer:
Dear Jesus,
Oh how I thank You today that You look beyond my lack of beauty marks, deep into my repentant heart. And because You do, I can claim membership in your … “Children of Promise.” Amen
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