Of the people in my world, few are under the rigors or traditions of Jewish law. Instead, we have allowed ourselves to be directed by the laws of modernity, culture, and the man-made rules and traditions of the institutionalized church.
Galatians 4:1a, 2-3, 4a, 5
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, . . . He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, . . . to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
When John the Baptist and Jesus shook up the Jewish people by announcing the long-awaited Messiah and the fulfillment of the ultimate promises that went back as far as Abraham, people freaked. They understood the implications of a Messiah in their world. They understood the law would be superseded by whatever He brought along. They understood there was an inheritance involved.
We don’t.
By “putting on Christ,” I am no longer just female or American or middle class. I am the seed of Abraham because Christ is the seed. [Gal 3:26-29]
It reminds me of the sad stories of wealthy men and women passing their money, their companies, their knowledge, and all their worldly goods to their descendants but it’s all destroyed or lost. The inheritance was full of promise but it was unrealized.
I feel like a modern day prodigal, wasting away the gifts of the Christ. I am a slave instead to my lifestyle, my debt, and my self-image. I am perpetuating 20th century goals and dreams to my children.
What does it really look like to wear Christ in the world?
Meditations from Zion 