YOU'E NOT THE BOSS OF ME !

"You're Not the Boss of Me"
Reading: Exodus 20:3

"No other gods, only me." The Message translation

Many years ago I encountered this person for the first time. He was a six-year old neighbor kid. He was making a general pest of himself in the neighborhood. Particularly troublesome was that he was bilingual--cursing was his second language. When I told him to watch his mouth, he stiffened in defiance and said pointedly, "You're not the boss of me!"

I have met this same person over and over in my 58 years of life. In a self-centered teenager at youth camp who did not want to be quiet during "quiet time.' In a husband who I confronted about his abuse of his wife. In a deacon who wanted to make the church walk his financial line. In an ordination candidate who wanted the church to approve him even though his doctrine was at variance with the Body. In a woman who wanted to keep her lover even though it meant trashing her marriage. In each case I was the spokesperson for authority--sometimes the duly appointed spokesperson for the Lord and His church. In each case it did not matter to this person. "You're not the boss of me."

Human beings have always wanted to be the boss of themselves. And they have sometimes foolishly exercised their freedom to be the boss. That was essentially the first sin in the Garden--Adam and Eve's desire to be their own boss by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so they could be like God.

But there is only one Lord of the Universe, and we are not Him. And when we try to claim His job, we only reap trouble. We may experience the momentary satisfaction of doing what we want when we want, but the ultimate consequence is that we lose our lives in the slavery of sin. We may want to be the boss of ourselves, but without God's leadership, sin becomes our Master.

This devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends.
(C) 2009 by Stephen L. Dunn. All rights reserved. You can subscribe by email by sending a message to Patty at coglandisville@coglandisville.org or signing on as a follower of this blog.