Reading in Galatians this morning, and I came across a fitting verse for this morning. It reads, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Gal. 4:9).
How can you go back to coach when you’ve experienced first class? How can you struggle with a PC when you’ve blazed on a Mac? How can you indulge cable when you’ve witnessed the wonder of the Tivo?
And how can we go back to the things of the world once we’ve been known by God? How? Is there anything more precious? Anything more life-changing? Anything that could flip our world upside down like Jesus? There is nothing.
I saw it last night as we finished up n*gage. We have been loving on some kids in Abbeville this summer and last night I got the privilege to explain the gospel to these children. After I talked, I got our 20-somethings to split up and take a couple kids each and make sure they understood the message and to see if they wanted to become a Christian.
I’m not a crier often. But as I looked over that field filled with friends and a whole bunch of kids, I just got moved. I walked around the field praying for friends of mine that God had brought from Illinois or Campobello, SC. I heard friends of mine, some of who had grown up in a Christian home, some who hadn’t. I watched compassion coming from single and married. I witnessed people sharing the gospel that years ago would have choked at the thought of it. And I was just overwhelmed by Jesus.
He has turned all of our lives everyway but loose, and how could we go back to anything else? After the extravagant love lavished on us, how could we remain the same? How could we go back living for the things of the world? How could we get over what Jesus had done?
It was a good night to be known by God.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
