Thank God for babysitters! When we run into those who babysat our kids, I always smile. Some of them endured great difficulties with wonderful God-given perseverance. I mean in keeping our kids. One night we returned home to water from the second floor streaming down the sheetrock into our kitchen on the first floor. On another occasion, one of our boys decided to escape the babysitter. After a lot of worry and concern, she spied him in a neighbor’s garage. God bless her and all those who cared for our kids.
Paul saw the law as a babysitter, a tutor, and a guardian for the people of God before the coming of Christ. When we are young, we can’t be left to our own devices. But as we grow older, we outgrow the need for a babysitter.
When Christ came, God’s people no longer needed our guardian to guide our every decision. Once we believed in Christ, we found ourselves in Christ as children of God through faith. Our baptisms clothed us in Christ. Immediately, our former identity markers lost their sway. Unity in Christ took precedence over whether these early Christians were Jews, or Gentiles, slaves, or free, male or female. They were all one in Christ.
This unity is also ours. Christians, if we are Christians, are Christian first. It is true that we love our countries of origin. Certainly, we offer allegiance to our political groups, our alma maters, and others. But first, we are Christian. If we think of this differently, Paul would say, we are thinking wrongly. Our good confession at baptism is, “Jesus Christ is Lord.” Because this is true, every other preference must take a back seat to him. God is not our babysitter, but our Father. Thank God we are his children.
