INTRODUCTION

so what’s this hex?

Everything I thought I knew about

how to live the Christian life

turned out to be wrong.

(Everything. Wrong.)

I was clear about my eternal destiny.

Heaven is my home.

I understood I was forgiven

through faith in Jesus.

And I knew the Bible is inspired by God.

I got that down.

But I misunderstood “the Christian life,”

what it is and how to live it.

I thought I was saved by GRACE

but had to grow by EFFORT.

I thought I was supposed to MAKE it happen.

You know,

to be a follower of Jesus.

Disciple.

Mature Christian.

After receiving God’s free gift of salvation

through Jesus, I thought

I was now obligated to do all the stuff

it seemed God expected of me.

And the list of stuff I thought I was

required to do kept growing.

Soon, my obligations as a Christian became a problem.

They crowded out everything

the Bible said I should be experiencing.

God’s grace

Freedom

Love of God

Joy

Peace

Relationship with Jesus

Something was missing.

Something was wrong.

Really wrong.

The pressure of trying hard to live the Christian life began to suck

the life out of me. What was once joyful and energizing turned

into an obligation.

A big obligation.

An unsustainable obligation.

I focused on my own spiritual development.

I looked at diagrams that others said would help.

I followed principles I read in books.

After all, isn’t that what I was

supposed to do?

Aren’t we supposed to try hard to be like Jesus?

Aren’t we supposed to follow Him?

Aren’t we supposed to be a disciple?

Aren’t we supposed to…?

Pray a lot

Read our Bible every day

Share our faith

Tithe regularly

Show up at some/most/all church services

Join a life group

Serve my local church

Listen to Christian music

Support world missions

Is this it? Is this why Jesus came?

Did Jesus leave Heaven,

come to this earth,

live a perfect life,

endure a horrible crucifixion

and rise from the dead

so that we could live a life of

never-ending Christian obligations?

(Really?)

Did I misunderstand how this works? (YES.)

THAT is what this book is about.

It turns out I was under a HEX

and didn’t know it.

And there is no freedom under the hex.

(HEAVENS TO BETSY!)

what Paul tells the Galatians…

How foolish can you be?

After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now

trying to become perfect by

YOUR OWN HUMAN EFFORT?

Galatians 3:3 (NLT)

THE GALATIAN COUNTY LINE

Welcome to Galatia County.

Galatia County is a nice place to visit but

you would NOT want to live there.

Galatia is a big county with numerous cities and towns.

It’s doing well financially. Lots of hustle bustle.

There are lots of Christians here.

Several notable congregations.

(But there is a BIG PROBLEM here.)

You will find that the people here are religious.

They believe in Jesus. They know He is the Son of God. They understand that Jesus was crucified for their sins. They know He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.

The Christians in this county are under…well…a spell.

Some would call it a “curse.” Others would call it a “hex.”

No matter what you call it, it’s not good.

It is odd, because the people here are not practicing the occult.

There are no psychics. No witchcraft. No fortune-telling. No crystal balls.

And yet…the Bible says they are under a hex.

How is that possible?

It turns out that the Christians in Galatia County are not doing anything weird. In fact, they are doing something almost every Christian does on a regular basis.

They are trying to add to the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

They don’t know Jesus killed the way of religion on the cross.

They never saw the obituary.

They think if they

try a little harder,

do a little more,

then God will notice and bless

their extra commitment/dedication.

We call it the TRY-A-LITTLE-HARDER-DO-A-LITLLE-MORE SYNDROME.

Or as the book of Galatians calls it: “the hex.”

They just think they can use their religious efforts to complete

what Jesus started. They want to do stuff to get closer to God.

No big deal.

(Scratch that!)

It’s a VERY BIG DEAL!!!

Actually, they lived in the first century Roman empire so we don’t know exactly how they were trying to do this. But we can easily speculate about how they would do it if they lived in our day.

They would have discipleship programs.

Christian life principles.

Bible reading plans.

Charts and diagrams to learn.

Services and schools to attend.

Ministry strategies to master.

And anything else to…

make them more like Jesus,

help them be better Christians,

grow them into spiritual maturity.

You see how this works?

Add-ons.

Do more stuff.

Press in.

Try harder.

Do NOT make your home in Galatia County.

This place will beat the joy out of you.

Suck the life out of you.

Drain your enthusiasm for living.

Don’t get dragged into the whole

the-cross-is-not-enough-for-me-

so-I-have -to-add-more-to-it HEX. 

This book is about

hightailin’ it out of Galatia County

to enjoy life with

God your FATHER.