I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments. Psalm 119.45, NLT

Is there a difference between liberty and license? Is freedom more valuable than anarchy? Is it possible to do as one pleases without “hurting” someone else? Is it fathomable to consider restraint as necessary for sustained happiness?

A friend asked me several years ago if I would jump out of an airplane with him. It was an appealing adventure, so I agreed to it so long as my wife would consent. My friend quickly acquired my wife’s permission and before I knew it we were sitting in hours of classes instructing us how to jump out of an airplane from 13,000 feet without being strapped to another human as a “safety feature.”

We were told clearly and repeatedly that there were rules that could not be ignored. The consequences for disobedience were illustrated in gory detail. My friend is a free spirit and not one to pay particular attention to instruction, but for this activity he was rapt. After the class, he insisted we practice our exit procedure over and again, so that we would do it exactly as we were told.

An hour or so later, up we went; out we went; down we went; it was exhilarating! My friend stood for his first landing and I did the same…until I tipped over. Through the whole process I did not think for even a moment, “Who do these kids think they are, telling me what to do? They are only half my age, why should I follow their command? I am in the plane, I have my chute, I am going to do whatever I please, ha!”. No, not even for a moment.

Consider the paradox of freedom necessitating instruction. It is a reality we all deal with on a momentary basis. For instance, we rely on the dynamic of opposing forces to accomplish the mundane, like standing erect. For most humans, the command is issued silently from the center of our brain to the many parts of body to work together to keep gravity from exercising its force to cause to collapse into a puddle of tissue and bone. We could not exist without our many diverse parts following, in coordination, the command to keep us upright.

When it comes to the God who created us, however, we seem to think these type of rules do not apply. So we fool ourselves to think we are “free” by rejecting God’s commands instead of realizing we are just foolish and will eventually fall victim to the consequences of our own ignorant acts.