No Distractions, Day 20 It’s all about Christ. Read Galatians 6:11-18 Paul writes this last section of Galatians himself. He wants to reiterate the key points as a reminder to the people of everything he’s been trying to tell them through this book. In this last reminder, we see that ultimately the goal is Christ. We are not to boast in anything but Christ. We are not to focus on anything but Christ. We are not to desire anything but Christ. Ultimately, our entire life is to be about Christ. That is what it means to live a life without distractions. Reading through this book, we have seen so many…

No Distractions, Day 19 What are you planting? Read Galatians 6:7-10. I heard a story once about a gardener who one year just decided to mix all of their seeds together and plant them that way. It turned out to be a disaster because certain plants require more space than others. Some plants are growing underground. Others are sprawling across the top. Everything got jumbled together and nothing produced vegetables the way it should have produced. Sometimes, that’s how we go about our lives. We’re planting, but we’re not doing it with intentionality, and so what we end up harvesting is just a group of haphazard results with no direction.…

No Distractions, Day 18 Stay focused on your own responsibilities. Read Galatians 6:1-6. As we read through these versus, we see an important distinction, we need to stay focused on ourselves. Anytime I’ve been around a group of young children together in a classroom or school setting, there’s always that one kid that is not getting his own work done. He or she is traveling from desk to desk to desk to look and see what everybody else is doing. While it seems friendly and is fun, and he engages a lot of people, he doesn’t end up getting his own work done. If we’re not careful we can fall…

No Distractions, Day 18 Know the difference. Read Galatians 5:16-26. In these verses, we see two lists. We have the famous list of the fruit of the Spirit, but we also have the list of all the fruit of the flesh. Paul wants us to understand that we will be living according to one or the other list. If we are following Christ and allowing his Spirit to live in and through us, we will be producing the fruit of the Spirit. However, if we are not surrendered to Christ and not allowing him to live through us, then we will naturally produce the fruit of the flesh. We have…

No Distractions, Day 16 We are free to serve. Read Galatians 5:7-15. As Paul continues to remind us of the freedom we have in Christ, he tells us that our freedom is for a purpose. We were not set free so we could just do whatever we wanted to and indulge in all the sinful things around us. We were set free so that we can serve and love one. Our freedom comes with purpose. We must understand that the freedom we have cost Jesus his life. As a result, we need to be using that freedom in a way that glorifies God. We were not set free to just…

No Distractions, Day 15 The familiar and the comfortable. Read Galatians 5:1-6. Paul sees the temptation that the people are facing and he calls it out. You see, the people have been set free through Christ. However, it’s so easy to stay in what is comfortable and familiar. The people were used to trying to follow the laws. They were used to following through specific checklists of things they can do and not do. So even though they have received Christ and are set free through him, they are often falling back on all these rules and checklists. Paul wants them to understand that is not what the Christian life…

No Distractions, Day 14 Get rid of the distractions! Read Galatians 4:21-31. As we finish out chapter 4, Paul is giving an example of how we can be distracted and how we need to get rid of the distractions. Paul reminds the people of the story of Abraham. When Abraham tried to jump ahead of God’s promise, he had a son with his wife’s servant Hagar. It became a situation where he had a son of the slave woman and a son of the free woman. Paul reminds the people that this is exactly how we are before we come to Christ. We are sons of the law verses being…

No Distractions, Day 13 Truth trumps all. Read Galatians 4:11-20. As these lessons center around no distractions, we’ve mentioned a lot about the importance of staying focused and eliminating the things in our life that cause us to lose that focus. One piece that we can’t forget about is our need to stay focused on truth. We can be focused on a great many things, but if it’s not on the truth, then that focus will eventually lead us astray. The truth of God is what keeps us from distractions. If we lose our diligence to stay focused on the truth, we will miss out on all that God has…

No Distractions, Day 12 A freed prisoner doesn’t stay in the cage. Read Galatians 4:4-10. Paul is continuing to explain to the people just how silly it is for them to be distracted with other things. Paul reminds them that because of their new life in Christ, they have been freed. It’s like they were slaves to all the other things in the world that were trying to get their attention, and now they have been freed from all of that. However, when they go back to trying to just keep the law, they it’s like they never experienced the freedom. They Have been freed by Christ, but yet are…