Sin basically comes down to the concept of you wanting to do things that God says are wrong. This results in a conflict of wills: you want one thing, He wants another. Well, this is fabulous, for where there is a disagreement of wills, there is an opportunity to practice submission. You see, submission doesn’t come up until there is a disagreement, because as long as everyone is approving of the program, no one has to yield to anyone else. Well, Jesus is not your buddy or your friend, He is God Almighty. He infinitely outranks you, and you’re not going to get anywhere with Him until you accept and respect this difference in rank. Submission is a soul attitude which is critical for succeeding with your Gods, but until you clash with Them on some issue, submission will never come up. This is what makes the whole sin issue such a fabulous thing, because by instilling in us a strong attraction to evil, our Gods create a context in which we can choose to submit to Them. When God tells you not to do something that you really want to do, it irritates you. You want to blow Him off. But He says that He outranks you, thus what He says goes. Here is where your soul has a choice to make: you will either submit to God’s Authority and say, “Fine. You win. You’re the Boss. I don’t like Your orders, but I’ve decided that pleasing You is more important than pleasing myself.” Or you’ll say, “Stuff it and go away. I’m doing things my way.” If you were really freed from the burden of sin and never tempted to disobey God, this kind of conversation would never occur. You’d be skipping along in your perfect little life, utterly self-absorbed and not giving a hoot that God outranks you. How is this pleasing to Jesus? Jesus wants submission from you, He doesn’t want to just stand there watching you coast along like some independent being. So Jesus is going to constantly set up situations in which you loathe what He’s telling you to do, and then you’ll be stuck having to choose between submitting to Him or defying Him. The more you practice submission, the more bonded you will become to Jesus, and the more you’ll begin to cherish Him the way Jesus wants to be cherished. He is your Lord, God, and Master—not just some vending machine of blessings and power. Jesus wants you to learn to view His approval and pleasure as the greatest rewards—not just obsess over having a conflict free life.