Greetings, Visitors and New Beginnings Family. If you choose, pour yourself a cup of coffee and then pull up a chair for the latest edition of Coffee with Gary entitled, “What! Are You Telling Me I Don’t Have a Choice?”

Something within me resents the notion of being told what to do by somebody else. In my mind, I know God wants me to submit to those who rule over me (Hebrews 13:17). But at times, my heart tells me otherwise.

In hopes of slowing the increase of COVID-19 infections, Dane County has recently implemented a mandatory mask order for people assembling indoors. When I first learned of this order, my knee-jerk reaction was one of defiance. Similarly, I remember when Wisconsin’s mandatory seatbelt law took effect, and I reacted the same way. Then, as now, I was already in compliance without the Wisconsin and Dane County governments butting in. In my mind, those directives effectively took away “my choice” to do what “I think” is right for me.

Since I was compliant with the mandatory mask order, I asked myself, “Why do I feel so annoyed?” Then I realized that the problem in my heart is as old as Adam and Eve, who, by disobeying God, rejected God’s sovereignty over them (Genesis 3). In my instance, the God-ordained, Dane County government had seized control of my prerogative to be lord over my life, and I didn’t like it.

Now I know of more reasons than I can count why I am unfit to be lord over my life. One of those reasons is my inconsistency in the equitable and just application of judgment. For example, a couple of days ago, I noticed a few customers in the grocery store not wearing their masks and thought little of it. However, I was annoyed when I saw news clips of people celebrating the Fourth of July not wearing masks and not social distancing. In essence, I would have permitted the people in the grocery store to decide for themselves if they wanted to wear a mask, but I would have deprived the Fourth of July revelers of the same choice.

What then must I do to let Jesus reign supreme over my heart? 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 in part commands us to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. How then does this command work in my life? First, I have to want Jesus to be the Lord over my life and trust Him in all things. With Jesus at the helm, I need not be concerned with judgmental inconsistencies because Jesus is always consistent. Jesus would have judged the unmasked patrons in the grocery store the same as the unmasked Fourth of July revelers. Next, I have to identify the sinful thoughts of my heart, agree that they are contrary to Christ, and subject them to the obedience of Christ.

As long as I live, there will be a continuous struggle over who is Lord over my life. Therefore, it’s not so important that I am defiant against authority but that I immediately identify it for what it is and take it captive to the obedience of Christ.

Finally, if I have genuinely brought my tendency towards rebellion under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then I will have no problem submitting to God-established authority (Hebrews 13:17, Romans 13:1-7).

Your fellow pilgrim in looking for a country of our own (Hebrews 11:13-16),

Gary