Bewitched??

Today, my third day in reading Galatians 3, was a fruitful day. The first two days were a struggle as I tried to absorb the content on a "macro" level -- trying to get the gist of the passage. Now that the content is becoming more familiar to me, I began today to hone in on the "micro" level -- looking at individuals words and phrases to draw out the meaning.

Verse 1 has caught my attention each day. "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." Today this verse invoked a memory that helps to illustrate Paul's point.

My father worked at Kellogg's his entire career. When I was a young child, Kellogg's hosted a Christmas party each year for the employees' children. On a Saturday afternoon in December, my parents took my siblings and me to the W.K. Kellogg Auditorium where we were entertained for an hour or so and then given a box of goodies to take home with us.

I remember the entertainment one year was a magician. He did the standard tricks of changing scarves into different colors, making the metal rings intersect, and having his magic wand turn rubbery. The trick that I liked the best was one that involved participants from the audience.

The magician had several audience members join him on stage where they sat in folding chairs. He promised them a prize if they could figure out how the objects he displayed disappeared. The fun part of the trick was that the audience could clearly see that he was throwing the objects behind the participants' backs. The participants never caught on to the trick. They did not know that the objects were just behind them in plain sight.

Imagine with me that someone in the audience who has just watched this trick is asked to join the magician on stage. The magician performs the same trick and the participant, who has just seen how the trick is done, doesn't turn around in his seat and find the "disappearing" objects. How dumb would that be? Why would he fall for the trick and not remember the solution?

This is exactly what Paul is saying to the Galatians. "Before your very eyes" -- you were in the audience watching the show. "Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified" -- you understood the solution to the trick. "Who has bewitched you?" -- why are you falling for the magician's trick?

The passage continues with Paul asking the Galatians how they were saved. Was it by works of the law or by faith? He answers his question in verse 11, "Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because 'The righteous will live by faith.'"

I appreciate that Paul used the word "clearly" in verse 11. "Clearly" -- there is no doubt -- the evidence is in plain sight -- it's right "before your very eyes." We are "saved by faith...not of works." (Eph 2:8-9)

You know the solution -- Don't be fooled by the magician's trick.

Blog update -- I now have a third follower!! (Hi, honey!) My husband found his way to my blog. Three weeks...three followers. The blog is on a roll. As you know, the point of the blog is not to get a following -- it's for me to keep focused on my 2012 goals and to have accountability in my life. Knowing that others are reading the posts is encouraging me to keep writing, reading and studying the Word, and making good financial decisions. The accountability is working! Thanks for reading....

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