Galatians 4:8-10 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. “Recoil” primarily refers to the backward momentum or force experienced when a gun is fired. It can also describe a reaction of fear, disgust, or shock, causing someone to draw back from something. Additionally, “recoil” can refer to the elasticity of tissues, like in the lungs or muscles, allowing them to return to their original shape after being stretched or compressed.

I can remember the first time I shot a Marlin 3030, and I remember my grandfather’s old shotgun shooting Double O buckshot. Both of those days are etched into my memory. The violence of the recoil made me think hard about never firing them again. Of course, since I was a country boy, I was only about 9 when my brothers (who I think found hilarity in trying to damage or kill their little brother) had me firing off several guns.

I did ok with the pistol. I did ok with the 22 LR rifle. I was even pretty good with it. I was good enough that my brothers determined to find something I couldn’t shoot. By the way, they did the same thing to my sister that was eleven at the time. After firing the old shotgun, her shoulder bruised pretty badly. She was mad at them for days.

Whatever your first big gun was that you fired, there was recoil that kicked you backward. Some recoil is slight as the gun manufacturer built it for minimal recoil. Some kick like a mule because of the amount of powder in the shell. All of us remember it.

Now Paul was writing to the church at Galatia. They were a newly founded church of believers. Paul remind them that when they didn’t know the true God, they worshipped gods that were not real, simply gold covered wood or stone images. They had a religion but worshipped what was not a real god.

He reminds them that they found God or rather God found them and they believed on Him for salvation. Then when they had no real leader, they began to recoil or go back to their old ways of worship. Their newly found faith was becoming a religion similar to what they had had before finding the Savior.

They began to think about the old feast days, and times of celebration in their old religion. They had had so much fun doing that that they began trying to incorporate that into their new belief in God. Paul was disgusted.

Galatians 3:1-2 “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

The problem is that I understand the Galatians. I understand people who make a commitment to Christ then fall back into the ways of the world. They lack a spiritual leader, a mentor, a guide. True, they received the Holy Spirit into their lives, but the Spirit of God allows freedom of Will. God wants followers that serve Him because they understand that Salvation is a gift from God that changes their eternal destiny. They were headed to hell in their old life. But like the Galatians, some of that old life still holds an attraction that is hard to overcome. When a person asks Christ to save them, no matter where that event took place, they need a good influence to help guide them to righteousness. They need someone that spells out trouble, just like Paul was doing for the Galatians. They need encouragement to do right.

The change from the old to the new is not easy. You have had years of training of doing the bidding of the world around you. Many things entice you to do wrong. Many are simple things. Basically, the old life is holding us hostage, yet Jesus Christ gave us the key to that prison. We don’t have to bust out of jail, we can simply unlock the door and walk out.

Once you believe, for you to be blessed in this life, you must become obedient to the way God wants you to travel. His requests are simple. The life He can give you is satisfying. His way is the right way. The old way starts with entertainment and fun, but ends in conflict, argument and dispair.

Find a church that teaches the Bible as the infallible Word of God and attend regularly. Grow in the sure knowledge of a God that loves you and has the best plan for you to succeed in life. Come visit us at Vian Baptist Church any Sunday morning ar 10 a.m. for Sunday School and 11 a.m. for worship service. It will be my pleasure to help guide you to a church that can and will feed you until you can understand the Word of God for yourself.

Remember this…Christians should be in church on Sunday.