"They are jealous of you not beautifully, but rather they are wanting to exclude you, in order that you should be seeking them."
-Ulterior motives. We all have them. We approach another person and are relating to them, we are extra nice and generous to them, paying extra attention to them, but we want something from them. We have a hidden agenda. We want them to give or do for us something, or we want them to like us or agree with us in some regard. And, truth be told, when we’re on the receiving end of such attention we all know how good it feels to be pursued, how nice it is to be treated nicely, to be wanted by someone else, that they want you on their team. Cuz no one wants to go unrecruited, unpicked, the last one standing there when teams are chosen. No one wants to go to the prom alone. Sadly, the interest being shown in these Galatians by the Judaizers was not at all sincere. It was tainted, the entire lump leavened with self-serving me-first. They wanted to shut these believers out and exclude them from the blessings of the freedom of being fully loved and accepted children of God, from that which was theirs in Christ through faith.
-But even moreso these Judaizers simply wanted another notch in their belt, another trophy in their case. They wanted the Galatians to switch teams and join them, which would of course serve to reinforce their own legalistic position. They were savage ravenous wolves wearing wool, dressed in sheep’s clothing, right? Both Jesus and Paul here, being good shepherds, instinctively spot and know to warn against such creatures. (cf Matthew 7.15, John 10.11-13, Acts 20.27-31) You hate to be cynical, but honestly we all owe it to ourselves to do all due diligence when it comes to vetting potential suitors, those who begin to pursue us in any arena. So many have an angle - not all, but many who come-a-calling do not have our own best interests in mind. They are not prepared to lay down their life for us - they just want something from us, they want us for their own purposes. Salesmen, pitchmen, would-be boyfriends, preachers - the list of those who line up to land our hearts (or our vote)(or our bank accounts) can be quite long. You've got something they want, and some of them are savage lupine suitors in wool suits. So, let's guard our heart, and do our homework, and while we're at it do our best to listen to what the Lord might be trying to tell us by His Spirit and through those who know us well. Lord knows, you're worth it.
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