New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

by Paul David Tripp

“But why, Dad, why can’t I? All the others kids are doing it. I just don’t understand why you have to say no all the time. I don’t get why this is such a big deal. Can’t I do it just this one time?” I can’t tell you how many times we had this conversation. Sometimes it was a quick plea, thankfully followed by submission. At other times it disintegrated into a major, volume-raised debate. But each time it was an instructive reminder. It’s a sad but obvious fact—sinners don’t like boundaries. Sinners tend not to esteem rules. Sinners don’t like to be told what to do. Sinners don’t tend to love authority. Sinners tend to want to author their own moral codes. So you can’t even pray this prayer, “Lead us not into temptation,” unless grace has visited you. Only powerful, rescuing grace can take you from “Let me do what I want to do” to “Guard me against the temptation to do what you know is best for me not to do.” If you’re a parent or can honestly reflect on your childhood, you know that one of the biggest and most important battles children have with their parents is the battle of authority. The same is true of our relationship with God. You don’t have to read any further than the third chapter of the Bible to see that battle break out and alter the entire course of human history. In this request, there are three recognitions that only grace can produce. The first recognition is that there is One of ultimate authority who rules over this world and knows what is best. In this r...