The Treasure Is Christنموونە

THE BOOK OF GALATIANS

Introduction

The people of Galatia had heard the Good News about Jesus and had accepted a new way of living, but they were getting distracted by life around them and the talk of others.

Day 1 - The Search

Galatians chapter 1

Key verse

I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.

(Galatians 1:6-7)

All of us at various points in our lives are searching for something.

For a surfer it's often the perfect wave. Many years ago, well before the internet, I was surfing in Mexico. We were getting good waves, but you know the feeling – there’s got to be a better spot. One day surfing with another Aussie guy, we were swapping travel stories as I had travelled west from home and been through Southeast Asia and Africa and he had travelled east through the Pacific. At one point he goes, “Dave, you have to stop in Tahiti on the way home – it's’ going to be the new hot destination. There are sick, pristine waves, way better than this.” The lure had me. With a hand-drawn map and his instructions, I reverse-charge called a mate, as you did then (oh yeah, no mobile phones then either, just imagine, aye). He was to meet me in Papeete with some cash and a tent. It was a budget adventure; I had run out of coin.

Once we met up, we headed to another island with our map and my retold stories. We found a place on the beach to camp near a local village and set up our base. The possibility of this guy’s stories being real and the answer to what we had been searching for had us edgy and stoked.

But finding the foretold wave was elusive. For days, we hitched rides on the local banana trucks heading along the coast to plantations. Various guys would point out spots to us or we would just find these passes in the reef all to ourselves. But nothing matched the stories.

We were told, “Nah don’t think so”, or “That’s not right!”, or “Just surf here, this is the best”. But we had to find out. Eventually, after a few days, we travelled along the coast as far as the trucks could take us. What to do? We had firsthand evidence of this place and we were not giving up.

The fourth day, we jumped off the truck and sat and waited. After an hour a guy in a tiny Mini-Moke (leave you to look that up yourself) stops. He’s happy to take us and just drive. He was a business guy on a break, and we just chatted in broken French and English. After another half an hour the road climbed up around a mountain and as we rounded the bend, we found ourselves spellbound, looking down on a picture-perfect lagoon with mechanical 6-8 ft lefts stacked through an outer pass in the reef.

We were told, we searched, we found, and etched in our memories, is the truth of experiencing and surfing the most memorable waves ever (and yep no one else out).

People still doubt, some say no, must have been here or there. Before we found the spot, we were told to settle for less.

But we know the truth now and are changed forever!

As the key verse for this day applauds: We decided to not turn away so soon. We didn’t follow a different path. We stayed the course and did not listen to other stories that may have swayed us from the truth.

I don’t know now who the fellow was who shared the good news with us and put us on the search. But I thank God he did and that we pursued the truth.

Reflections

1) What are you ultimately searching for in your life?

☐ “You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ”

(Galatians 1: 6-7)

2) Could the Good News about the life Jesus led be the answer?

☐ “May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. All glory to God forever and ever!”(Galatians 1:3-5)

3) What are some of the things that easily distract you from the search?

4) Who can you ask to join and support you on the adventure?