Known By God

"But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to whidh you desire again to be in bondage?"
Galatians 4:8-9

Beloved, did you know that when we did not know God, we served things that we thought would fulfill us: money, power, prestige, position. All the things the enemy would have you serve. And that is what we did, even if we didn't know we were. We were serving the things of the world. There is a form of this in the Christian world too. We impose man-made rules upon people, saying "This is the way to heaven." But it isn't. Even just trying to keep the rules is a form of serving. But these things are not gods. There is only One True God. And guess what? He knows us. We are known by God. Psalm 139:13-17 says, "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!" Did you get that? God knew us before we were even formed in our mother's womb! How great and marvelous is our God! He knew us when we didn't know Him. He knew us from before the beginning of our lives, and He loves us. He loved us then, and He loves us now. He loved us when we were far from Him, running after the things of this world, the power, the prestige, the position, the prosperity. He knew us then, and loved us. So much so that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth as a baby, to grow up, and become the substitutionary atonement for our sins. Sometimes that blows my mind, how great the Father's love for us.

So today, in this passage of Scripture, Paul is talking to the Galatians, who started out by faith alone, but had placed themselves back under the bondage of rule-keeping. Paul calls it the "weak and beggarly elements." Beloved, know that you cannot keep the rules. You just can't. No matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you strive to do so, you won't be able to. I don't say that to discourage you. I say that because it is true. In and of yourself, you cannot keep the rules. But that isn't what it is about anyway. It's not about reading a certain amount in your Bible everyday, although reading your Bible is a necessity in the Christian walk. It isn't about how long you spend in prayer, although prayer is a vital part of your daily walk. It isn't about the clothes you wear, your hairstyle, anything like that. That is all external. God doesn't want your hair, He wants your heart. All those external attributes are just things that man has imposed - rules - to try and put you under bondage again. You don't need the Jesus and the rules. You just need Jesus.

Beloved, today as you go about your busyness, don't be too busy to remember the Father's love for us. He loves you and me so much, and cares deeply about your life. Let us live our lives as an act of worship unto Him. WE are the living sacrifice. WE are loved by God. WE have been loved by God since before we were made in our mother's womb. WE are known by God! Amen.