Daily Devotional for Tuesday, November 26

The Churches of Galatia

"And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia;' Galatians 1:2.

Sometimes, I miss the good old days. There was a time when the Lord's churches would fellowship together. I grew up in a local, visible, scriptural New Testament church that associated with sister churches of like faith and practice. Whether it was a youth rally, a revival, Vacation Bible School or even an ordination, our churches took advantage of those opportunities to get together and fellowship and worship God.

Of the thirteen letters attributed to the apostle Paul in the Bible, the letter to the Galatian churches is the only one addressed to multiple congregations. I like to think of this group as the Galatian Association of Baptist Churches. This does not mean that the other epistles were not shared among the Lord's churches. As a matter of fact, we see this conveyed in Paul's letter to the Colossians, in which he plainly instructed the church at Colossae to share the letter that he wrote to them with a sister congregation, ''And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea" (Colossians 4:16).

Even though we believe in the autonomy of the local church, there is nothing wrong with fellowshipping with our sister churches. Sadly, people are so busy now that they barely have time to make it to their own services, much less an event being hosted by a sister church. Usually, if I see someone from another church, it is because we are at a funeral together. It is sadbut true.

CHALLENGE

The next time a sister church invites you to a youth rally, revival or VBS, make plans to attend instead of giving excuses as to why you cannot.

Chris Floyd