Free Falling

What exactly is it about sin that makes it so attractive that a person would disobey God?

The answer: freedom.

Not a true freedom of course. But a certain self-determined, unconstrained, unconsidered abandon that imitates real freedom. The love of God is unconditional toward us, but our love for Him is by design entirely conditional. "If you love Me, you will obey Me." But a love predicated upon obedience has two other parameters. The first is faith. You have to believe someone to obey them even in opposition to your own desires. The second is self denial. To obey  God often requires a willingness to not have what you want on your terms. 

Restrictions go against the very grain of our self will. Free will and self-determination are programmed into the psyche of every U.S. citizen. "The American Way." "Independence." "Rugged individualism." "The American dream." "Make something of yourself." "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." "Freedom of (fill in the blank)." All great and noble ideas that get twisted into something quite different when they come up against a sovereign God who demands not only preeminence in our lives, but our complete submission, as evidence of our fealty and love. And so for the sake of freedom we abandon God and seek our own because after all, "it's my life. Why should I make myself a slave to religion and a God I can not see? You only live once, you know, so you must make the most of it."

The problem is this: any form of freedom that rejects God is slavery. 

The sensation most akin to the idea of freedom is flying. Nothing feels more free than soaring through the air completely unfettered by that unrelenting law of gravity. The freest creatures in nature are those that can fly. We envy them even as we aspire toward them. From Icarus to the Wright brothers we endeavored to imitate them until we finally got our feet off the ground. And then we sought to better them by loosening the grip of gravity and propelling ourselves into orbit and even to the moon. "The stars" we boast, "will soon be ours as well." 

And this free nation of ours; our mascot, our idol if you will, attests to this deepest desire. The Eagle; the freest, strongest, most independent inhabitant of the sky. The desire for an eagle's flight is not in itself a sinful one. It is God given. "I will bear you up on Eagles wings." So our yearning is simply "Deep calling unto Deep." But where God sings, "I will bear you up on Eagles wings." Man sings "I want to fly like an eagle to the sea." The sin comes when the wrong individual is doing the actual flying. 

Let's imagine you are standing at the precipice of a cliff. Beyond you is a glorious tropical landscape, lush and breathtakingly beautiful. Magnificent mountains, towering waterfalls, a thick equatorial jungle that houses abundant life beneath its canopy. The song of something wild and gloriously free rising like a mist from the jungle floor. Beyond that a sea of crystal clear blue. Everything within you cries out to take flight and soar into that unspeakable beauty. But at the base of the cliff are deadly jagged rocks. If you, full of rugged individualism and your dogged independence, take a running leap and launch yourself out into the ether you will indeed feel, for a moment, the thrilling rush that comes from flying. Yet before too long, it will occur to you that the horizon is not getting any closer. Indeed the rocks are looming and you realize that you never really were flying free. You were only free falling. This is having it your way. This is disobedience. This is sin.

"I wanna free fall out into nothin' Gonna leave this world for a while. And I'm free! Free falling!"

Tom Petty

If, on the on the other hand, you hear the voice of God telling you to trust Him and jump, and you do, it will be very different. As you hurl yourself off the cliff you will find that a massive and powerful Eagle will be waiting just below the precipice. As you leave the ground He will take flight and catch you upon His back. He will lift you up and carry you out into the horizon. You can raise your arms in praise and feel the winds rush over them as if you too had wings. But you will not be so foolish as to think you are the one in control of this journey. No. It is unlikely you will even care to direct Him, for who knows the skies better than the Master of them. This is obedient love. This holy submission. This is freedom. 

There is one thing that must be noted. The Eagle is watchful and He is swifter than thought. If you left that cliff thinking you could fly and now you suddenly see the deadly rocks are looming, you need only call His name: Jesus. 

Even if the killing blow is but a breath away you will feel His talons snatch you up and save you, "lest you dash your foot upon a stone." For His love remains unconditional. This is repentance. This is truth. "The truth will set you free."

"I want to fly with the Eagle to the sea. Fly with the Eagle, let His Spirit carry me."

Steve Miller (paraphrased)