Through The Bible in a Year - April 14, 2026

“There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.” – 1 Kings 12:20

For the last few days, we have been considering the lies thatNew York Times columnist and former atheist, David Brooks, contends control our culture. He describes a fourth lie that he said is driving the divisions in our culture: life is an individual journey. I have a right to make my own way, my way. I’ll determine what’s right for me.

The lie was displayed in Israel’s response to King Rehoboam’s cruelty: eleven of the twelve tribes rejected him. Most of God’s people simply said, “We’ll follow our own path. We’ll make our own way. We don’t need the rule of Rehoboam anymore. We don’t need this son of the line of David anymore – and we don’t need the God of David anymore. So, we will dispense with thelaw of God given by Moses. We’ll determine what is right for us.”

Sound familiar? Why is there so much heat in our culture over issues of sexuality and gender? The issue is hardly ever decided by what God says in his Word. What drives the vehemence of the debate and keeps the upset boiling is the sense that somebody might limit my freedom to do as I choose.

The common consensus of our time is that life is an individual journey. There are no external standards to guide me. I just need to do what I think is right for me and feels okay to me.

What drives the divisions and fuels the polarities in our country, in our churches, and in our families is the fear that someone might not get to follow their own path, particularly in the area ofsexuality.

The consequence? Lie number five follows naturally: you justhave to find your own path – your own truth.

For Israel, that meant finding another king who wasn’t as cruel as Rehoboam. The faith of the alternate king didn’t matter solong as the people could do as they chose. So, they chose Jeroboam and he did as he chose: making two golden calves and saying, “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

Israel is now hundreds of years beyond the Exodus, and these people of God go back to creating the same kind of idol Aaron made to worship Egypt’s gods. The people of Israel are seeking personal freedom by turning away from God, not realizing that doing so leads them right back to slavery. It always does. What seems like liberty is actually slavery when we turn from the Godwhose grace who empowers us to resist the lies and chains of the world’s priorities.

Respond: Where are you cutting your own course instead of following God’s? What area of life are you saying, “I’ll determine what’s true for me”? What “freedom” are you pursuing that’s actually enslaving you? Today, ask yourself the tough question: Am I following my own journey that is going to enslave me in habits or priorities that control me more than I control them, or am I following God’s path toward the blessings of freedom from this world’s chains?

Prayer: Lord, I too easily believe life is just my individual journey—that I can determine what’s right for me. But your Word graciously teaches me that path leads back to slavery. Forgive me for rejecting Your standards. Forgive me for creating my own idols. Lead me back to true freedom that is the life of love designed by your grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.