Choices

 Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 

My senior project as a Religious Studies Major at Chapman University was on the topic of Free Will.  I said to my advisor one day “everything happens as God wills it to happen.” He stopped, looked at me, and asked whether I believed that God has given us free will.  When I said yes, of course I believed that, he suggested that those two beliefs really don’t work well together and that I should probably research Free Will.

By the time I had finished that project I realized that he was right.  It is impossible to see God as a puppeteer and believe I have freedom of choice at the same time.   Eve and Adam made a choice in the Garden.  God did not force their disobedience to happen.  I believe God’s will would have been for them to remain happily in Eden for ever, but they chose not to do God’s will.  Rather they let the snake manipulate them into doing exactly what they had been told not to do.  

When a person asks me “Why did God plan for my child to die in a drunk driving accident?” I tell them God did not plan that.  But the person driving drunk had exercised their free will by getting behind the wheel, which interfered with God’s plan for their child.  God knows everything, yes, except - God does not know what choices we will make, and whether we will follow the path God has chosen for us or take a detour.  Throughout Scripture we are reminded that we have a choice to choose God or not, to do God’s will or not.

We are called to be free.  We are given the choice to use that freedom as we please - right or wrong, for good or evil, to help others or to indulge ourselves.  No matter what our choice, God loves us, but our choice to freely serve others makes God happy.

Loving God, we give you thanks for the freedom to choose.  May we always choose to please you by using our lives to serve all of your children.  Amen