I.
Where has God been for you in different “seasons” of your life?

II.
Galatians 3:23-4:7 (NRSVue)

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be reckoned as righteous by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than those who are enslaved, though they are the owners of all the property, but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba!] Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir through God.

III.
This week’s Scripture passage begins with “Now before faith came ….”

Where were you before “… faith came …” in your life?

Paul claims “we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until …”

Can you reflect on your life and see a time when you might have been “… imprisoned and guarded by the law”?

What might Paul tell us this reveals about God’s care for us and nearness to us?

Charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}