SEEKING SELF RULE

I will make myself like the Most High. —Isaiah 14:14

The atheist, in his arrogant statements that God does not exist, seeks to put himself in the place of God while knowing that he does not know all things as God does. His limited knowledge makes him prideful and his arguments for no God are superficial. Others have their “own way” and rebel against God. These people also seek to put themselves in God’s place by wanting to rule their own lives. Apparently they think they know what is better for them than God does.

“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). This has been the temptation from the very beginning— to be like God in knowledge. But puny man, as creative and intelligent that he may be, will never even start to come close to the knowledge that God has. Man can scream as loud as he wants that there is no God, but that doesn’t change the truth of the matter one iota. Man can seek to rule his own life in rebellion against God, but that does not diminish the power of God one bit. He will accomplish all that He desires whether man believes or not.

“We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know” (I Corinthians 8:1-2). Those who put their trust in the knowledge they have become prideful. They think they know so much and yet they don’t know things that they out to know.

There is evidence all around us that screams out that God exists (Psalm 19:1-4; Romans 1:18-20). Instead of man submitting to the God who has made it plain to them that He exists, they suppress this truth through wicked behavior. Listen, this is what wicked behavior does— it seeks to suppress the truth about God!

There are really only two possibilities in life: 1- I will allow God to be the Ruler over my life or 2- I will seek to be the ruler over my life. So, who is the ruler of your life? Are you submitting to the Lord God Almighty or are you usurping His authority by seeking to order your own life? To do the first is wise, but to do the second is temporary, foolish and futile. Oh, that we would truly submit to God through His Son, Jesus and by yielding to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

Dear Father, may I be sensitive to how You want me to live for You and not seek to live for myself. That truly is the desire of my heart. May it be so!