495 -- A Graceful Ending
June 18 (6/18) in Godsfield -- Galatians 6:18
(For Better or Verse: Each day in 2025 I will begin this Godsfield e-mail with a Bible verse that corresponds with the month (chapter 1-12) and day (verse 1-31) it is sent. This month features a lot of sixth chapters! Those with eyes and ears, let them see and hear.)
Galatians 6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
It's classic Paul. Whatever he writes, his letters begin and end with the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in one form or another. And this is the last verse of his letter to the folks in Galatia.
I have touched on this before in this scripture calendar idea, where chapters and verses correspond with months and day of the year. It is a fun idea, but it means I am limited to the first 12 chapters of a book and the first 30 (or 31) verses of a chapter.
And then I am limited to the number of verses eligible to a given day, as not every 6:18 in the Bible would be a likely candidate for your encouragement, which is what this is meant to be.
Randomly selecting 1 Samuel 6:18, I read: "also the gold mice, according to the number of cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages,. The great stone, beside which they set down he ark of the Lord, is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemech."
Oh dear, that seems random, but I can fully see how that verse could bear a devotion worthy of your attention.
How about John 6:18? "The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing." Oh, brother (and sister), I can see that would easily develop into devotional gold, because we all know who is about to walk onto the scene, the sea scene.
Surely Job 6:18 can prove my point: The caravans turn aside from their course; they go up into the waste, and perish.
Well, I've heard preachers make sermons of less.
At any rate, the limit is there. There is no Acts 6:18, for example, as the chapter has only 15 verses, which helps me only for the first half of this month!
And, of course, several of Paul's letters do not have even six chapters. We lost Philippians in April, Second Timothy, too. Philemon was a January only book.
Do you see my dilemma? In June we lose more of Paul's letters meaning as the year goes on, we will have to rely on the big books, the big, long-chaptered books. (Hey, Proverbs, get over here. Help me out!)
As usual, I have digressed. This is about the last verse of Galatians, and Paul reminding them that it is the grace of Jesus that is the big takeaway in the Christian faith.
You were in prison by sin, and now at the hands of Jesus, pierced as they are, you are set free. You are not bound by sin or by the regulations of religion, but rather led by the freedom of the Holy Spirit, to live for Christ as God has intended. You are set free form prison; don't go back in.
There are many good 6:18's in the Bible; this is the top of my cross-stitchable list, because it is the cross that sets us free.
Love ya,
Paul