New Morning Mercies #46

We will never get the freedom and long-term satisfaction we thought self-rule would bring. Ignoring God is never a pathway to blessing.

There are two lies that tempt each of us somehow, some way. They are the lies that fueled the disastrous choice of Adam and Eve in that moment of temptation in the garden. Yes, it is true, these lies have as much power today as they did then. The first is the lie of autonomy. This lie says that you are an independent human being with the right to live as you wish. Now, if you’re a parent, you know that your children fall into embracing that lie. That’s why they don’t hunger for more of your correction and don’t esteem your authority. From day one, our children want to believe that their lives belong to them and that they are the only authority that they need. But we don’t belong to ourselves. If God created us—and he did—then we belong to him. I am a painter by avocation, and when I finish a painting, it belongs to me precisely because I made it. The painting is not autonomous. In the same way, human autonomy is a lie.

The second lie is the lie of self-sufficiency, which tells me that I have everything I need within myself to be what I was created to be and to do what I was designed to do. The fact is that God is the only self-sufficient being in the universe. We were created for dependency, first on God and then on one another in loving community. We need to be taught, encouraged, warned, strengthened, forgiven, healed, restored, counseled, loved, rebuked, and delivered—all things we cannot provide for ourselves. Human self-sufficiency is a lie.

So Jesus calls us to reject the lie and come to him. Under his yoke is the only place where true freedom can be found. He says: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28–30). There is freedom to be found, but not in empty promises of autonomy and self-sufficiency. True freedom is only ever found when grace ties your heart to Christ. Freed from trying to be what you can’t be and to do what you were not designed to do, you are now free to carry the light burdens of forgiveness-giving and life-restoring grace.

For further study and encouragement: Genesis 3