Jesus Gave Me Work to Do

Scripture: You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" Galatians 2:14b-21

Observation: Over and over again, Paul qualifies the "faith vs works" conversation with one very important item - he is discussing works "of the (Jewish) law".

Application: I have a lot to say on this, but I'm not going to. Instead, I am going to put the lesson into immediate action.

I am a man of faith in Jesus. Faith is shown through works. As such, Jesus has given me work to do! My primary work is caring for my family. Right now, my son is under stress, so I'm cutting this sort today to help him.

Prayer: Jesus, please be with Garrett right now! Give him comfort. And please give both he and I peace, patience, kindness, and self control to deal with the people we will be working with over the next few days. Amen.