Gálatas 6
Albert Barnes · Citado em PreceptAustin
Gálatas 6:9
Barnes adds that A Christian should be always ready to do good as far as he is able. He should not need to be urged, or coaxed, or persuaded, but should be so ready always to do good that he will count it a privilege to have the opportunity to do it. Spurgeon in his devotional entitled Unprofitable Servants notes that… Our good works are evidences of grace within us. Our faithfulness will be the evidence of our having a loving spirit towards our Master- evidence that our heart is changed, and that we have been made to love Him for Whom once we had no affection. Our works are the proof of our love, and hence they stand as evidence of the grace of God. God first gives us grace, and then rewards us for it. He works in us, and then counts the fruit as our work! We work out our own salvation (Php 2:12-note), because "He works in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure (Php 2:13-note)." If He shall ever say, "Well done" (cp Mt 25:21, 23) to you and to me it will be because of His own rich grace, and not because of our merits (cp 1Co 15:10, Zech 4:6, Col 1:29-note). Amen. Good (2570) (kalos [word study]) describes that which is inherently excellent or intrinsically good, providing some special or superior benefit with a basic meaning healthy, sound or fit. Kalos is intrinsically good with emphasis on that which is beautiful (Lk 21:5), handsome, excellent, surpassing, precious, commendable, admirable. In classic Greek kalos was originally used to describe that which outwardly beautiful. Lenski on good ( = excellent)… The excellent or noble thing" = sowing for the spirit and comprises all that Gal 5:22, Gal 5:23 contains. THE PREREQUISITE FOR THE "PRIZE" For - Paul explains why we should not lose heart. He is saying there will be "payday someday." And the charge to keep on keeping on is motivated by the prospect of future reward. This encouraging word about a "payday someday" brings to mind John Wesley's exhortation to "Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." Due time - The appointed season. The proper season. The due season. Proper time. Fruit is reaped in a season that follows the sowing, but it is ultimately the time of God's appointment which "is neither to be hastened nor delayed by the act of any of His creatures." (Vine)
Gálatas 6:10
Barnes writes that... This is the true rule about doing good. "The opportunity to do good," says Cotton Mather, "imposes the obligation to do it." The simple rule is, that we are favoured with the opportunity, and that we have the power. It is not that we are to do it when it is convenient; or when it will advance the interest of a party; or when it may contribute to our fame; the rule is, that we are to do it when we have the opportunity. No matter how often that occurs; no matter how many objects of benevolence are presented-the more the better; no matter how much self-denial it may cost us; no matter how little fame we may get by it; still, if we have the opportunity to do good, we are to do it, and should be thankful for the privilege. And it is to be done to all men. Not to our family only; not to our party; not to our neighbours; not to those of our own color; not to those who live in the same land with us, but to all mankind. If we can reach and benefit a man who lives on the other side of the globe, whom we have never seen, and shall never see in this world or in the world to come, still we are to do him good. Such is Christianity. And in this, as in all other respects, it differs from the narrow and selfish spirit of clanship which prevails all over the world. Notes on the New Testament Explanatory and Practical. John Eadie... The kairos here refers to the kairos of the preceding verse: as there is one kairos for reaping, there should be also one for sowing; and in proportion as we have it, so ought we to improve it; the season for reaping is coming, the season for sowing is fast passing away. Kairos is not chronos, tempus, but here tempus opportunum; though it has not that sense always, for it may be importunum. (Galatians 6:10 Commentary) Ob Portu (from Bible.org) - In the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could make it to port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing over off a port, waiting for the moment when it could ride the turn of the tide to harbor. THOUGHT: What a great picture of a believer waiting for others who are passing by, intentionally [as led by the Spirit] watching for and seizing opportunities to do good! Lord give us eyes to see those "golden opportunities" You have placed in our path that we might be like ships ob portu, seizing the moment for Your glory. Amen) The English word opportunity is derived from this original meaning. The captain and the crew were ready and waiting for that one moment for they knew that if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare turned this background of the exact meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages. It’s from Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3: There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. An old Chinese adage says, “Opportunity has a forelock so you can seize it when you meet it. Once it is past, you cannot seize it again.” Some other common sayings that convey a similar thought include: "Strike while the iron is hot", "There is no time like the present" and "He who hesitates is lost". Our English word opportunity comes from the Latin and means “toward the port.” It suggests a ship taking advantage of the wind and tide to arrive safely in the harbor. The brevity of life is a strong argument for making the best use of every opportunity God gives us. The following quote from Napoleon illustrates the idea inherent in kairos: “There is in the midst of every great battle a ten to fifteen minute period that is the crucial point. Take that period and you win the battle; lose it and you will be defeated.” For example in (Eph 2:10-note) Paul clearly states that believers now are God's workmanship (Greek = poiema = "masterpiece") created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Our goal as believers is to enter into those works that He has already prepared for us, for those are the only eternally lasting and "good" works. The idea of kairos is that God gives each believer opportunities - each new day brings its opened doors, its vast potential. It behooves believers to live in such a way that we are sensitive to when God gives us one of those "kairos" opportunities, because when it passes, it is gone. We can achieve our potential in His service only as we utilize those opportunities He has given us. If this admonition was urgent during Paul's day, how much more urgent today! THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME! Lost Opportunity - “Seize each opportunity to do righteous deeds, because the pull of the times is downward towards moral debauchery.” In 1979, while in seminary in Texas, I was painting for some men who invested in older apartment buildings and renovated them. One of them commented that Texas Instruments was about to unveil a new personal computer, and that if I had any extra cash, I should invest—their stock was certain to go up. I didn’t have extra money, but watched the stock reports, and sure enough, within a year T. I. stock had climbed substantially. But I’d lost the opportunity! -- John Underhill, Spokane, WA (from Bible.org) Comment: I know a similar story of a fellow physician who in the mid-1980's was approached by a young university dropout who asked him if he would be willing to invest $10,000 in a "high tech" entrepreneurial idea the young man was certain would "catch on". The doctor easily could have given this sum to the young man but was skeptical and so he turned down the young man's request. The young man's name was Michael Dell and today the company is worth billions. Today [2010] this same doctor cannot even discuss this missed opportunity because it literally gives him a "sick feeling" in the pit of his stomach! Now if you're like me, you're thinking "Wow, he missed the opportunity of a lifetime!" What if we as believers began to see the everyday opportunities that God places in our path as "opportunities of a lifetime", as opportunities to invest in eternity accompanied by a "divine guarantee" that our "investment" would yield priceless, ceaseless, unfathomably blessed spiritual dividends! I believe we would all begin to invest wisely in the lives of those around us if we kept these secular worldly missed opportunities in mind to motivate us not to miss the divine heavenly opportunities to do eternal good. Open the eyes of our heart Lord to see and seize those "opportunities of a lifetime" for Your glory. Amen. Opportunities to be kind Are never hard to find. Anxious Times - The Irish Potato Famine (1846-1851) resulted in a 30 percent drop in the population of the west of Ireland. The prolonged suffering of the Irish peasantry had broken the survivors in body and spirit. John Caldwell Bloomfield, the owner of Castle Caldwell in County Fermanagh, was working on the recovery of his estate when he noticed that the exteriors of his tenant farmers’ small cottages had a vivid white finish. He was informed that there was a clay deposit on his property of unusually fine quality. To generate revenue and provide employment on his estate, he built a pottery at the village of Belleek in 1857. The unusually fine clay yielded a porcelain china that was translucent with a glass-like finish. It was worked into traditional Irish designs and was an immediate success. Today, Belleek’s delicate strength and its iridescent pearlized glaze is enthusiastically purchased the world over (See Belleek Pottery - Wikipedia). This multimillion-dollar industry arose from innovative thinking during some very anxious times. (Bits & Pieces, June 25, 1992) (Bible.org) IT'S LATER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN BEFORE! Kent