Contemplative Bible Reading

Galatians 1:4 (New Living Translation)

Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

Paul is writing this letter to the churches of Galatia. This is part of the first words or the introduction. In the, “Dear Folks in Galatia” that I usually skip when reading, Paul says something powerful and significant.

Jesus gave his life for our sins. Jesus’ death took away our sins. Why? To rescue us from the evil world in which we live.

Life on earth is good (for many of us). Air conditioning. Good hot coffee. HD (or is it now UHD 4K) TV. More food than I can and should eat.

Life on earth is evil. We live in an evil world. The week I wrote this fires killed many in the paradise of Hawaii. What? How? Simple—this is an evil world. Terrible things happen to people. And many of those people are fine people. Many are Christians as well.

What am I to do in this evil world? Do the best I can with the grace of God. I know that God has rescued me from this place. My rescue hasn’t happened today. When will it? I don’t know. It is promised; it will be. Thank you God.