Galatians 4:11
11 I am afraid [phobeo] of you [humas], lest [mepos] [-pos] I have bestowed [kopiao]
upon [eis] you [humas] labour [kopiao] in vain [eike]. KJV-Interlinear
11 I fear for you, that perhaps I
have labored over you in vain. NASB
The word for fear, ‘phobeo,’ means afraid, alarmed,
frightened, concerned, disappointed. And
that is exactly how Paul felt.
When Paul originally came to the Galatians years
before, he taught them the gospel and they heard it, and they believed in
Christ. And, they not only believed in Christ, but Paul taught them many other
Christian doctrines, which they also learned and understood.
The great disappointment is, that other people came
along, specifically Jewish people who believed in the old-school, and began in
their teaching, adding to the faith in Christ concept, the practices and
rituals of the Levitical doctrine, namely works, so as to make their faith more
perfect, so to speak.
Paul was clear in his instruction. The Galatians
knew and understood Paul’s instruction. But what was so disappointing is that
their falling away from truth was seemingly so effortless and without thought.
If there ever was a time for blonde jokes, then
they would apply here. Because the Galatians, knowing something with certainty,
acted as though it went in one ear and right out the other.
But, that is the way of the world. Most people are
not interested in truth. And, most people that are interested in truth, only
approach it in a way of superficiality and pretense.
All of their thoughts and ideas, are for show, and
not for substantive growth within themselves.
And, with the number of Bibles that are available
in this world, with the number of methods of learning Bible doctrine and truth
that are available in this world, and with the ease of being able to learn
everything in the right way, then it is very disappointing when people who have
truth at the very fingertips, choose to not see it, and they choose to do
nothing about it for their own spiritual growth.
Doing nothing is sooo easy, and learning doctrine is sooo
much trouble. After all, who in the
world can possibly spend this huge amount of time, perhaps five or ten minutes
a day, learning what God has provided for you?
And the unfortunate thing is, that so much is
available, for so little effort, but the vast majority of people by their own
choice, are missing out on the greatest life that they could have, but never
will have.
