A Fair Swap

Galatians 2:15-21

One of my favorite commercials is the one which shows a group of women who have apparently met as part of a book club. The commercial begins with one of them saying, "Forget the book, tell us about your date." After which another woman begins to describe what seems to be a bad date.

While she's explaining how her night began, another woman in the group decides she needs a snack and makes a choice between a healthy or unhealthy one. She chooses the healthy snack and has taken advantage of what is called a "Swapportunity", which is defined as the opportunity to swap one choice for another. At the end of the commercial she glances at the unhealthy snacks, heart-shaped cookies, and notice they are broken in half.

Although it is widely recognized that swapportunity is not a word, I can say that in my lifetime I have seen words which began as urban descriptions actually make it into the dictionary. So, in risking a few comments about word choice I want to call what Paul is talking about today a swapportunity.

Paul points out that the people in Galatia have 2 choices; they can follow the Jewish laws of their day or believe in the way of Jesus. Both will help the Galatians to live a life without sin, but only one will bring them closer to the love of God. Paul makes the argument that by following the law we discover our sins, but through Christ those sins are justified; made right in the eyes of God.

The question for us, then, is what becomes our swapportunities? What things can you exchange in your life to bring you closer to the love of God. It's true that there are some things you'll have to give up in order to be in that love, but the things you give up just might be the things you need to break from.