Stand Fast!

It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed]. GALATIANS 5:1 AMP

As i read the context of the extract above, i am reminded of what waiting for God's promise looks like. Abraham was promised a son, but like all of us humans, he just had to speed up the process. He got a son by his own effort, outside God's original plan. Yet, God's unshakable promise stood. That's how it has been since creation: 2 phases, 2 laws at work. I have a choice to make: do I hold on to the promise of God, or do I go after my own devices?

Holding on to my own devices is telling God that I can take care of myself. I am sure that Abraham never grasped the eternal implication of what he did. Self-help or self -sufficiency can never lead to the new freedom in Christ, because both are founded on different covenants. You don't come to Christ on your own terms; you come seeking Christ as he commands.

Christ did his bit so I could enjoy the benefits that his life guarantees. Nothing else can secure eternity for me. I can't bribe him with possessions; he already owns the heavens and the earth. I can't offer him blood of animals; the precious blood of his Son has been shed once and it is valid for all time. I can't plead good morals; it was not enough for the rich young ruler, it was not enough for Nicodemus or Paul, it was not enough for Cornelius, and if it is the same God, it will never be enough for me.

I do have a part: standing firm, not subjecting myself again to slavery. Standing firm here does not connote my own strength, but standing in the One who can sustain me. I will never succeed on my own, or make it on my own, or secure myself by myself; I must keep depending on Christ alone for help. He alone can hold me up, even when everything else around me is falling to pieces. His time of favour is here.