Good day dear friends. How was your weekend? I hope you have rested well. It is a new week and we will continue in our journey in Galatians. We are now at verse 7 of chapter 5:
“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” Gal 5:7-9
Verse 7 of Galatians 5 is one of a few portions of Scripture that present the Christian life as a race. I remember a series of messages I shared in my home church a few years back titled “Portraits Of Our Profession” in which I discussed a few illustrations we find in the word of God that describe our lives as believers. It included the picture of the believer as an athlete, a soldier, a farmer and a builder. Each of those pictures holds important lessons for us and I hope to share these later (perhaps on this blog or another platform). In my post today however, I want to turn our consideration again to an issue we had treated earlier in the series when we were at chapter 2 of Galatians.
The Galatians had started off well. They had received the gospel, embraced the grace of God in Christ Jesus, received the Spirit of God and had been exhibiting good zeal and positive attitude in their Christianity but then things had taken a downward turn. So Paul had to ask them: “who has influenced you?”
The issue here again is the power of influence. In chapter 2 we saw this in Peter’s encounter with the Jews but here we see it in the Galatian Christians themselves. In Peter’s case, it was only a few individuals-Peter, Barnabas and maybe a few other people that were influenced but here in Galatians 5, it was an influence that had spread all through the whole community of faith in Galatia.
Paul’s reference to leaven or yeast is a borrowed imagery from baking. Yeast is used as a rising agent and only a little quantity is required for a batch of dough. The same imagery is used in 1st Cor. 5: 6 & 7. It is an apt figure of secret, pervading energy, whether bad or good. For the Galatians it was bad influence: they had started off running well but they had been influenced and led away from God’s path of truth.
Permit me to borrow an example from Nigeria. Corruption is now so pervasive in our country but I have read stories and accounts that make me realize that our country was not always like this. The rot started with only a few people who influenced others who in turn influenced many more and now we are where we are (a crawling giant at 55 years).
There is an undeniable power of influence. It is seen among friends, siblings, families, peers, colleagues/co-workers, congregations, communities and even large populations. Our actions, words and attitudes usually don’t remain in a vacuum. They always have an effect. They have the power to influence at least someone else and many times a lot more people than we realize can be influenced by the things we do and say.
The Galatians Christians in our passage unfortunately provide us with a negative example of influence. Unlike them, we must refuse to be negatively influenced in any way and I even encourage you to go further than that. Choose to be a positive influence in your home, family, at work, in church, among your friends and everywhere else. That is what God wants from us, after all through us He spreads the fragrance of His knowledge everywhere (2ndCorinthians 2:14).
This week I have chosen a song from way back-“Via Dolorosa” by Sandy Patti.
Have a nice day and a great week. Remember this week and always, God’s expectation of us is not only to refuse negative influence but for us to be positive influences. Next week we’ll go back to viewing more snapshots of God’s astounding grace.
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