Galatians 2:20

I was peeking ahead to the next section in my AWANA book the other day, and saw that I was going to have to memorize Galatians 2:20.  I read through the verse, and then I stopped.  I read it again.  This time I thought about the words that I was reading.  I wanted to share with you some of the thoughts that I had when I read through the verse the second time.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live"
When Christ died on the cross, He died to save the world from its sins.  As He was dying, He took the world's sin upon himself, and they died with him.  The I stands for my old sinful self.  That old sinful self no longer lives because it died with Christ when He died on the cross.

"but Christ lives in me."
Once I asked Christ to be the Lord of my life, He came to live inside of me.  If you have asked Jesus to be the Lord and savior of your life, then He is living inside of you too.

"The life I live in the body"
This, I think, is referring to what people see on the outside.  This means that what we say and do can either glorify God, or we can turn people away from Him by the way we act.

"I live by faith in the Son of God"
God is all powerful and in control!  As scary as it is, we have to realize that we have no control over our circumstances.  Each day we need to be willing to say to God, "I am living by faith in you today, grant me the strength to do that."  When we start feeling like we have our lives in control, God will usually change it up just to remind us that He is still in control.  Speaking from personal experience, when I try to take matters into my own hands, God shows me that he is still in control and that I need to trust Him and live by faith each day.

"who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Did you ever sing that song in Sunday school when you were little, "Jesus Loves Me"?  I think I sometimes need to be reminded of that song everyday.  Jesus loved me so much that He was willing to die a painful death on a cross so that I would be spared the penalty of sin.  Does that not say "I love you"?

I don't always get this much out of the verses that I read, but this one really popped out at me.  If you don't already spend time in God's Word each day, I would encourage you to do so.  You don't have to read through the Bible or anything, just pick a random verse and spend a few minutes meditating on it.  Remind yourself of it all throughout the day and ask God what He wants you to learn from it.  This is a great start in getting plugged into God's word.  (This article explains a little bit more about meditating on scripture.  http://take-it-from-kayla.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-m-word.html)