January 2 - There is a God, and I’m Not Him!

 Read today’s texts first: Genesis 3-5; Luke 2

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

• Real authority comes with being under authority.

•  There is a God, and I’m not Him! 

Adam and Eve had everything: paradise, power, eternal life, each other, and an intimate relationship with their Creator.  Created in God’s image, they were His extended authority on earth, but only as they were submitted to His will.  This is another of those paradox principles: real authority comes with being under authority.  When Satan wanted to be like God, he quickly discovered the job wasn’t available.  He tried the same line with Adam and Eve with the same results. 

Pride is the antithesis of God’s nature.  We see that revealed in Jesus, who was God but showed us how authority comes through submission.  As a baby and child, He was subject to His parents; as a man, and the Messiah, He humbly obeyed His real Father.  Wanting to be like God is proof you aren’t.

We can trace the dangerous doctrine of the deification of man (the desire to displace God as the final authority) throughout history.  But as we read about the fall of man again and see the escalation of sin through Cain, we need to realize that we can easily be guilty of the same thing.  Every time we deliberately defy God, we’re usurping His authority and losing our own.

“Lord, forgive me for the times I’ve campaigned for Your job.  There is a God and that’s You, not me!  Please confront me and convict me this year if I try to assert my will over Yours.  May Your will be done on earth, in my life, as it is in heaven!”