In the universe there are two principles in operation . . . and in opposition.
Two forces at war and at war with each other, vying for
the world, for the souls of man.
They are not just two "Beings" - Jesus and Satan.

There are two principles.
Jesus and Satan both operate by a fundamental principle.
A principle is this: a ruling value,
a law of constant use.
You could call it a "doctrine," a set of beliefs.

Jesus' ruling principle is obedience. He lives and has ever lived
perfectly under that principle. As a human, He chose
obedience as an immutable law for Himself, He restricted Himself -
confined His life - to the limits of obedience
to His Heavenly Father.

He walked every step, spoke every word
under the dictates of Another.
The Good Father made His choices, set His boundaries,
chose His friends . . . and His suffering.
And Jesus Christ bound himself - willingly -
to those choices,
even unto death . . . .

Satan's principle is the precise opposite.
He would live by no confinement, even in God's glorious realm.

He exists now only by the
uninhibited indulgence of his own lusts.

Satan's principle is rebellion.
And where rebellion is, there is Satan.
It is his field of play, his door of entrance.

Obedience and rebellion.

Humanity lives by one or the other.
YOU live by one or the other . . . .

All nature lives by obedience to its own inherent
creation, serving God by following its inner code.

But humanity is free to choose.
The two trees still stand before us to represent
the Two Principles.
The tree of independence . . . is the principle of rebellion.
The tree of Life, where all is in God,
there is the principle of obedience.

And humanity is free to choose.

Believers also, are free to choose the ruling principle for
their existence.

Obedience or rebellion.
Every day, every circumstance
presents these two laws.
And hourly we choose. Ultimately . . . we choose.

Each of us lives by a basic principle to which
we faithfully adhere.
In the crunch of anguish, in the swell of desire
we go to that principle, that deeply private choice:
obedience or rebellion.

By obedience, "I" die by the grim loss within obedience . . . 
yet the real "I" comes to life and finds destiny.

By rebellion, "I" keep my wish, preserve my way,
but "I" tumble into death and freeze.

Copyright © 1999 Martha Blaney Kilpatrick