Saturday, September 11: Free Will

A good friend of mine has the gift of evangelism; he always looks for an opportunity to share the Lord’s love with his friends, neighbors and even the random acquaintances that God puts into his life. He gave a Bible to a friend, asking the man to read the Gospel of John. At the bottom of the Bible was a commentary, and when the friend did not completely understand the passage he had read, he looked to the commentary for clarification of the words of Jesus:


The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
John 3:8


When the commentary discussed God “controlling” us, the friend felt unable to continue reading. “I was controlled by my parents growing up,” he said, “and have spent my life with everyone trying to control me. I am not about to allow God to control me.” My evangelist friend reminded him that the commentary included man’s words, while the Bible was written with God’s words. He offered to get a different Bible, without a commentary, and further instructed that “control” might give the wrong connotation, trying to get him to put “guide” or “lead” into the same sentence. But the word “control” became the excuse of not reading the Bible.


We all talk about free will, as God has given us the ability to make our own choices. Yet just as “wind blows where it wishes,” and God knows where it will blow before it does, each one of our choices fits into God’s all-inclusive plan. One of the young men attending a Bible study at my home is in a similar place. When asked to explain his belief, he spoke with honesty. “I believe in God, but I guess I am not willing for Him to be in control of my life.” God did not create us to be robots, following Him because He requires it. Instead, God desires for us to understand His love, and because He loves us, follow Him out of our love for Him.


We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19


Anyone who thinks that God is not in control doesn’t understand the size and power of God! There is nothing that He is incapable of. Paul certainly understood God’s power, when on the road to Damascus, Jesus spoke to Paul out of the clouds. Paul’s companions all saw a bright light, but only Paul heard what Jesus had to say:


3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 9:3-6


Paul’s life before that day involved his own choices. He chose to persecute Christians. He chose to believe that Jesus was not God; nor was He the Messiah written about in the Scriptures. Paul chose to walk in pride, based on his pedigree of studying under Gamaliel. Yet after that day, Paul’s life changed drastically. Yes, he chose to follow Jesus. From that point on, Paul asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Hearing God is a life-changing experience. We relinquish control of our own lives because that is what we desire to do. Yet God can place us in situations where it would be very difficult to ignore Him, just as He did with Paul on that dusty road.

Let’s return to the man we discussed at the beginning, who stopped reading after John 3 because he did not want anyone else to control his life. Making his own decisions, he chose to take illegal drugs, drive 130 MPH on the freeway and attempt to rape a woman he was stalking, all under the influence of drugs. He is now in jail awaiting trial, where he likely will be in a small cell for a very long time. I wonder if he thinks he is still in control of his own life? My guess is he is going to have ample time to finish reading John’s Gospel. Just like He did with Paul, God could be reaching out to change another man’s life. Until we are willing to hand it over to Jesus, our choices will lead us to death, but God always leads us to life! Truly, we don’t get to choose whether or not to honor God. Our only choice is when we will do that!


that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:10


10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:10-11