Free will is funny

Free will is indeed funny. It's really quite unusual and I never really realized that until tonight. I know it's something that I must have been told before or at least realized to some small degree, but tonight it sunk in. As some people say, what had been head knowledge became heart knowledge tonight. So I figured I'd write about it. Why not?

I have no doubt that free will exists. God gave us the ability to make choices in our own lives with lasting consequences--good or bad. Tonight during a discussion on Genesis we talked about Adam and Eve. They obviously made a choice that was outside the will of God. And God didn't stop them; he allowed it to continue and let them live with the result. He told them not to eat of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They ate--free will.

What's funny about free will is the desired result. I consider free will a gift. Let's say it's a coconut. I have a dozen coconuts and don't really need all of them, so I mail a coconut to someone. They keep the coconut or they realize this is a really random gift that made them smile and would make others smile as well so they send it to someone else. The gift gets passed from person to person, but I don't want my 12th coconut back.

Free will is a gift God has given to us. He could force us to make choices that glorify Himself, but He chooses to give us freedom to make our own decisions. The funny part is that the thing He most desires is for us to give that gift right back to Him. We, as humans in God's image, have the ability to choose whatever we want. Ideally though, God would like us to forfeit that precious choice and do whatever he chooses--whatever glorifies Him. He'll make the choices for us and ask for our obedience and trust as we do as He wills not as we will. We give His gift right back to Him

Romans 8:28 comes to mind. It's a promise God gave us. My paraphrase: We know that God will work everything for good for those that love him and accept their calling. Basically, we can make choices for our own good and do what we can to improve our own lives. Or, we can choose God's purpose for our lives and live according to his choices and trust that he will carry out his promise to bring us good. Essentially, it's rejecting free will and living for God's will; it's being vulnerable and open and weak. That's what God wants us to do with our gift.


My prayer: Father, we come before you on our knees with our arms open. We ask for your will and the ability to live in it. So be it.