Rebel to the core

One thing that often makes me chuckle is when people react with anger to the idea of hidden speed cameras, or in fact speed cameras in general. The idea that someone is spying on us waiting to catch us out is something that riles most of us, probably because that is how we view it. It make me chuckle because it is such a silly reaction really; it essentially just boils down to "I don't like it when someone catches me doing something wrong, which really I want to do". I chuckle, though I have to admit I am not immune to it. There is a similar reaction to, say, being behind a police car on the road; the same kind of dislike of being watched, although in this case when we aren't doing anything wrong. The expectation that we are about to be pulled over for something we do all the time without even thinking about it, that really we shouldn't be doing. I get that a lot, although I suspect it has much less foundation to it than I believe at the time. I think these attitudes remind of two things about us as humans:

1. 
   
   We like to break rules. The reason we hate the idea of someone watching us is that deep down we know we run a real risk of being caught, because we know we will be breaking the rules. The reason we then get angry is that we want to be able to go on breaking the rules. The hatred of any authority beyond our own is something inbuilt to humanity, and is exactly the attitude that creates sin. The refusal to accept God's total authority over our lives leads to us happily finding ways to ignore him and write him off.
2. 
   
   Deep down we know that we are utterly rebellious. Deep down we know that everything we do is tainted by selfish ambitions and desires, and these attitudes manifest themselves almost constantly in rebellion: against any authorities over us, and ultimately against God.

Now, nothing is ever as clear cut in our lives as that, but those attitudes do seem to run deep in people; certainly in me. It is those attitudes that show why we are so utterly helpless when we stand in judgment before God. We have rebelled against him, and forfeited our right to know him; and we are unable to break out of the pattern of rebellion that cut us off from him. This is what we typically call 'freedom'. This is what the Bible calls being dead. This is where we all stand under our own power: rebel to the core.