Daily Devotion: Galatians 1:1

Galatians 1:1    "Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)"

My thoughts run quickly even as I read this first verse. We all have a "what we used to be" in our lives.  You and I have a "what I was" and we have a "what you were" that we have to deal with. I think we can all agree (or maybe at least most of us agree) that if we do not deal with our past in the proper manner, then it will follow us and trouble us for the rest of our lives.  Paul had a past and in that past, we will see in this first chapter that he had regrets, but he also dealt with them. Only you know if there are things in your past that you regret, but we must be careful as to how we deal with them.  As we begin this study of Galatians, we see Paul identifying himself as to what the Lord had made him and also as to what he used to be.  We remember Saul, as he was known at that time, was consenting to the death of Stephen. He held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death. He raided homes and sent Christians to prison and some to their death as they remained steadfast in faith. 

 And now we read, "Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead; )"  Yes, he had a past, but praise God he had a "now" also. He was an apostle and had been placed in that office by none other than the very One whose name he had tried to eradicate off the face of the earth.  I remember what he wrote to Timothy, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry ..." (1 Timothy 1:12)  I can almost hear his voice as he would say, "... he counted me faithful..."  We will see more of this as we look through this first chapter of Galatians.

My thought this morning is this: We must never allow our past to override our present and our future in Christ Jesus. God is able to take the basest of materials and create the most glorious vessel. God is able to take our past and our failures and use them to mold us into His service.  Let us not spend our time looking at what we were; rather, let us focus on what, by the grace of God, we now are in Christ Jesus.  Lord, please use me to honor your holy name!