Weekday Devotionals - Aaron
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1
In our One Year Bible discussion groups this year, I recently asked, 'what is the first command in the Bible?' Typically, people respond with, 'Thou shalt not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' And yes, it's almost always in the King James Version, but actually, it is the positive command to eat from all trees of the garden first. Some of the Jewish rabbis used to believe that God may have actually allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree at a later date, but He wanted them to grow a bit first. He wanted them to experience the garden and His presence in all their fullness, then maybe, we could explore this forbidden tree. It's a fun concept, but you're welcome to hate it if you'd like; however, I see some parallels in Pastor Dan's message on knowing and doing the will of God from this past Sunday.
There are typically two groups of people when it comes to doing the will of God. The first group believes God wants to direct every decision we make from what we should (or shouldn't) eat for breakfast to who we should marry, and a 'wrong decision' on either of those can 'disappoint' God and make Him give us consequences. Those individuals can live in a perpetual fear of doing the wrong thing. There may in fact be some good intentions here; after all, it is in an attempt to please God, but God seems to tell those individuals, Hey, take it easy, chill out, enjoy life. The second group make the will of God conform to their own will. Best case scenario, they really don't know they're doing this. Worst case scenario, they know exactly what they're doing, but choose to suppress that truth. This is the stuff of affairs, church splits, and cults. God's response to these individuals is stop! Repent! Transform your thinking, put on the mind of Christ. Take the path of humility.
Jesus tells us to abide (which means to just be), rest, walk with Him, take up His yoke because His burden is easy and light. In other words, the default way of living this Christian life is incredibly freeing. You do you, boo, but keep me close by. There are some things I will tell you to avoid, to stay away from, to not go near, but I make those things obvious and clear. Let's just walk and talk together. I'll make sure you get where you need to be, and you just keep walking with me.
Aaron L. Green
In our One Year Bible discussion groups this year, I recently asked, 'what is the first command in the Bible?' Typically, people respond with, 'Thou shalt not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.' And yes, it's almost always in the King James Version, but actually, it is the positive command to eat from all trees of the garden first. Some of the Jewish rabbis used to believe that God may have actually allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree at a later date, but He wanted them to grow a bit first. He wanted them to experience the garden and His presence in all their fullness, then maybe, we could explore this forbidden tree. It's a fun concept, but you're welcome to hate it if you'd like; however, I see some parallels in Pastor Dan's message on knowing and doing the will of God from this past Sunday.
There are typically two groups of people when it comes to doing the will of God. The first group believes God wants to direct every decision we make from what we should (or shouldn't) eat for breakfast to who we should marry, and a 'wrong decision' on either of those can 'disappoint' God and make Him give us consequences. Those individuals can live in a perpetual fear of doing the wrong thing. There may in fact be some good intentions here; after all, it is in an attempt to please God, but God seems to tell those individuals, Hey, take it easy, chill out, enjoy life. The second group make the will of God conform to their own will. Best case scenario, they really don't know they're doing this. Worst case scenario, they know exactly what they're doing, but choose to suppress that truth. This is the stuff of affairs, church splits, and cults. God's response to these individuals is stop! Repent! Transform your thinking, put on the mind of Christ. Take the path of humility.
Jesus tells us to abide (which means to just be), rest, walk with Him, take up His yoke because His burden is easy and light. In other words, the default way of living this Christian life is incredibly freeing. You do you, boo, but keep me close by. There are some things I will tell you to avoid, to stay away from, to not go near, but I make those things obvious and clear. Let's just walk and talk together. I'll make sure you get where you need to be, and you just keep walking with me.
Aaron L. Green
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