Free Will Needs Discipline
By Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading: Psalm 1:1-6
Scripture Quote: Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it. Matthew 7:13-14 (CEV)
How blessed humanity would have been if we had lived from the beginning for the plan and purpose for which God created us. We'd be happy in the garden and with the dominion of all the creatures God had provided. But as it is, Christians who have received Christ are no longer desperately wicked, but we all slip at times as we transgress and disregard the boundaries God has stipulated for us. How much easier things would be if God had only not given us free will - Ah, but He did, and we must somehow fit ours through that narrow gate!
Our behavior directly demonstrates our commitment to God's Laws. We tend to try and complicate that fact, but nothing could be plainer - We are to love God above all else and others at least as much as we love ourselves. If we can capture that mindset, we can then avoid selfishness and inappropriate idols - We can endeavor to make the immortality of our soul and the existence of God’s invisible reality our primary focus, embracing our free will, as we yield it and our slip-ups to our Father's merciful forgiveness.
Today’s meditation: Love God, His Word, and others above all else.
By Toni Smothers
Scripture Reading: Psalm 1:1-6
Scripture Quote: Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it. Matthew 7:13-14 (CEV)
How blessed humanity would have been if we had lived from the beginning for the plan and purpose for which God created us. We'd be happy in the garden and with the dominion of all the creatures God had provided. But as it is, Christians who have received Christ are no longer desperately wicked, but we all slip at times as we transgress and disregard the boundaries God has stipulated for us. How much easier things would be if God had only not given us free will - Ah, but He did, and we must somehow fit ours through that narrow gate!
Our behavior directly demonstrates our commitment to God's Laws. We tend to try and complicate that fact, but nothing could be plainer - We are to love God above all else and others at least as much as we love ourselves. If we can capture that mindset, we can then avoid selfishness and inappropriate idols - We can endeavor to make the immortality of our soul and the existence of God’s invisible reality our primary focus, embracing our free will, as we yield it and our slip-ups to our Father's merciful forgiveness.
Today’s meditation: Love God, His Word, and others above all else.
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