Oscar had a good life. He was a hearty fish, the size of a grown man’s hand, and the boss of the entire aquarium. One by one, the other fish had to be rescued from his bad habit of nipping at their fins. Despite this naughty behavior, the little boy cared for him and fed him, along with a menagerie of other creatures: a bird named Popcorn, several snakes, and a favorite pet mouse.

Oscar’s home was a comfortable aquarium that sat atop a chest of drawers in the boy’s room. Every day, after the boy went to school, Oscar would eye the empty room. He was not happy. How long had he been unhappy? Your guess is as good as mine. But this went on until one day when the boy came home from school and discovered the aquarium empty! The little boy panicked. Where on earth was that naughty fish?

Running to the chest to investigate, the boy found him stranded, gasping and gulping for air. Somehow Oscar had flipped himself out of the water, clearing the sides of the aquarium and plopped helplessly in a bed of birdseed that had tipped over and spilled in the top drawer. There lay Oscar, covered in seeds, like he had just been breaded and was waiting to be fried and served up with a slice of lemon and some tartar sauce! The boy quickly grabbed him and ran to the tub faucet to rinse off the seeds, and safely returned him to the water where he belonged.

Cute story, but here’s my point. Many times we define freedom as being free from any rules or restrictions that may hinder us. Most Americans identify with the attitude, “I’m the boss of me!” But I beg the question, are we really?

Think of all the things that control you and your behavior. The list is endless. We are not truly free. What is it that you love and desire most of all? A beautiful body? A successful career? A house with a picket fence and two perfectly adorable children? You need to realize that if these are the things you live for, then no doubt they will limit your freedom.

Beautiful bodies demand that you better not eat that red velvet cupcake. And if you do, you’ll feel guilty at best, or stick your finger down your throat at worst.

A successful career will demand you stay at your desk and finish the project due Monday even when your cousin from out of town is pleading that you join her at the beach this weekend.

The two adorable children will demand you be willing to give up your svelte pre-baby figure, get up at night for feedings, change diapers, patiently attend to the unreasonable tantrums of a 2-year-old, and remain in constant vigilance-mode to keep them safe, healthy, and clean! (And guess who gets to paint the picket fence?)

All our choices are competing for control of our hearts. Even the “good” ones will make demands and place restrictions on our freedom. The key to true freedom is finding the right restrictions and making the right choices that fit our immortal souls!

All that we most love and cherish is already controlling us. The only question is, will we be under the control of the Lord of the Universe, who can fulfill and satisfy us, or will we be under the control of some other lord who can’t?

Here is where the Lord who designed us and loves us wants to come to the rescue. In the Bible, we have the guidelines and instructions for living to our Designer’s specifications. We have Scriptures which are able to make us wise. Teaching, correction, and training are all clearly given to us in His Word (see 2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Submitting to the good and gracious “rules” that fit our immortal souls is the only way we will find true freedom. This is a great paradox: True freedom is in obedience. As Derek Kidner has said, “Freedom is found in following God’s commandments, not in the release from them. If we foolishly disregard them, following our own hearts, we will end up violating our own being…much like Oscar the fish!