Free Will

by | Jul 22, 2014 | Uncategorized | 1 comment

white water raftingLately I’ve been thinking about the good and bad people throughout the world. The good people have a little bit of bad in them and the bad people have a little bit of good in them.  And then there are people like me that are somewhere in between with a little bit of both.  Sigh.

This line of thinking has brought me to the concept of free will.  The fact that God created humans to choose which path they walk on is amazing to me and strange all at the same time.

I mean, come on, it’s really hard to think of an all-knowing God who knows which path we will choose before we do and then just lets us choose it knowing what the consequences will be (good or bad).

Man…I bet it’s a really disappointing job to be God.

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” Ezekiel 18:30-32 (Italics, bold, underline are mine)

On one hand, we are created in His image, so our soul longs to be with HIM.  However, on the other hand, we have free will which lends itself to a very selfish way of living and invites us to please ourselves instead of God.  Add in the devil who wants to lure us to the dark side only makes our choices harder!! (The dark side sounds very Star War-sy!!)

And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. 2Timothy 2:26

We all have choices to make.  Will we succumb to our humanness and the selfish desires that this entails or will we fight off the temptations of life and submit to God’s Will?

I would dare say this is a battle we face on a daily basis…and for some of us, it is a moment by moment choice!!

By no means do I know much about God and/or have any answers to the whole life concept.  But, I do have a longing to get to know God better and I long to be more like Jesus (i.e. loving, caring and to be a light to those around me).  I also feel the longing of God for me to be His.

…(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),… Exodus 34:14

I love that we have a jealous God.  It makes me feel that much more loved.  Yes, it scares me a tad bit – the punishment part – but, it mostly tells me how much He wants me to choose HIM.

This free will gig is a tricky thing.  It’s kind of like when someone asks you a question and expects you to read their mind because you’ll be in trouble if you give the wrong answer.

God doesn’t ask us to read His mind.  In fact, He’s given us an entire book that outlines what we should and shouldn’t be doing.  The more we read it and put it into practice, the closer we will become to being as He created us to be.

And that is the key to true joy, peace and contentment!!  It’s when we are as He wants us to be and NOT out living in a self-serving way.

I am thankful that God is jealous enough to want me.  I hope and pray every day that I may choose Him today and not myself.  Sadly, the truth is that some days are better than others.

However, God is a God of many chances and again today, we all have the choice of free will.  How are you going to choose to live today?

Some Wisdom for Today:  Proverbs 16:4 – The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.

1 Comment

  1. Dale Martin

    Awesome!

    Reply

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