I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain

 Good morning. Paul then says, you observe days and months and seasons and years. That means they were turning to all of the Jewish beliefs under the law. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. You know that it was because of a bodily illness (the word does not just mean sickness; it can also mean infirmity, frailty, or suffering) that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. I bear you witness that if possible, you have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. There are a lot of people who believe that this was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh“, and that it was an eye disease that was his problem. I do not agree with them. Remember that Paul at one time had been stoned and left for dead. He rose up, and the next day he went to Derbe, which is in the Galatian region. It was a miracle enough that he was raised from the dead. It would have been even more so if he had no marks left on him from the stoning. Normally he would’ve been hit in the facial region many times with stones. It is very likely that his eyes would’ve been struck by those stones, and visually he would’ve looked horrifying. It is my contention that that is why he says that they would have plucked out their eyes for him, not that he had some eye disease. Father help the reader to visualize what You have in store for him/her. Help him/her to see what he/she needs to do to obtain it.

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