Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
It’s a position everyone with a beating heart wants, no matter the age, gender or nationality. People have been applying for it since the Garden of Eden. Satan even tried to get Jesus to apply! This job allows us to be the captain of our own ship, to do things “our way.” Its authority ranges from our personal sphere to world-wide dominion. So what is this most sought-after spot?
Being God.
Anyone around children knows this drive manifests itself in a baby’s first cry. Oh, we don’t call it that in the beginning. But as those little ones mature in their fallen nature, so does the sophistication of their demands. When I was young, my grandpa spliced together a series of home movie clips and called it Becky Creech, This Is Your Life. I thought I was the queen bee. It would take a few years before I learned, as Francis Chan puts it, my life consists of two-fifths-of-a-second-long scene in a movie that’s not even about me. Life is not about being God, but serving him.
Although dedicating our lives to serving God might sound like a noble mindset, I think more than noble, it’s just plain smart. The God we’re trying to be is the God who knows us better than we know ourselves. He created us with a plan and purpose before the foundation of the world. We’d be far better off relying on his assessment of what we’re to do than on our limited perspective.
Satan played on Eve’s desire to be like God. He tricked her into thinking her Creator was a celestial killjoy who didn’t have her best interests at heart. It’s a tactic he continues to use against Eve’s offspring. Let’s not fall for his schemes against us, no matter what temptation we face. Let’s quiet our rebel hearts against God’s plan and spit out the forbidden fruit.
I can’t help but think we could eliminate much of the pain and suffering in the world—if not most—if folks would just acknowledge all we need to know about the position of being God.
It’s already been filled.