Posts Tagged ‘Free Will’

Day 93: Deuteronomy 30:11-20 — A matter of life and death and checklists

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach…No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Deut 30:11, 14

Among Moses’ final words were these, from Deuteronomy 31. So far, so good. Let’s recap: these commands are not difficult, nor are they more than you can handle; God’s words are in your heart, ready for you to obey.

Sounds pretty simple.

He gives them a choice: “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” Seems like an easy choice.

“I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” Deut 30:15-16

That’s it, Moses? All we have to do is obey, and we get all that? We’ll do that, but what happens if we don’t?

“If you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.” Deut 30:17-18

Really? Let’s see if I got this straight — Obey and live; disobey and be destroyed. Right? No argument that the Israelites should have obeyed God, and no argument that they didn’t. So we’re not going to throw stones here; we’re just acknowledging the facts.

checklistSo what are we to do as Christians?

  • Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
  • Put to death anything that belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
  • As God’s chosen people, clothe yourselves with: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
  • Put on love, which binds these things together in perfect unity.
  • Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

That’s just a start; read Colossians 3 for the rest. We tend to be comfortable with checklists. Check this one off; mark through that one. Easy. We always know where we stand. Make no mistake about it though — God, through Moses, gave the Israelites no checklist, as much as the Pharisees many years later took great pride in letting people know they could follow one. Paul gave us no checklist in his letter to the Colossians either.

You want a Christian checklist — a real matter of life and death? Here’s the only checklist you need: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it. Luke 27 is the only checklist a Christian needs. Jesus Himself promised life by following this checklist.

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Posted in Colossians, Deuteronomy, Free Will, Luke | 1 Comment »

Day 86: Luke 1:26-38 — Becoming a servant

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

I wanted to leave home and be on my own and make my own decisions, so three days after graduation from High School I enlisted in the Navy. This is something I did of my own freewill and accord. No one forced it on me; I “volunteered.”

I spent the next four years happily doing what someone else directed me to do. Yes I enjoyed my time in service. Even though I wasn’t in control… I willingly gave myself over to the oversight of others. As I look back over the years since leaving the Navy there have only been a few moments where I was in control. Every job I’ve had since then someone else called the shots and I just reacted to their directions. Even during the time I was self employed I didn’t get to control my work day — my customers did. In each instance I became a servant — sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

Thirty years ago I decided to give myself over to the Creator of the Universe. I did not know at that moment where that freely-made decision would take me or ask of me. Read Mary’s response in Luke 1:38 NASB:

And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

I wonder if Mary really understood that her decision at that moment would take her to the foot of the cross? The word translated “servant” or “bondslave” in some translations means “devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests.”

How many times in this thirty-year period have I had to stop and ask myself at this moment “Who’s in charge?” So many of those times it was me. God in His grace has allowed me come to my senses and to once again let Him take the lead.

Pray with me today that we might all let Him take the lead and that we might follow as a servant should.

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Posted in Free Will, God, Grace, Jesus, Luke | 4 Comments »

Day 2: Genesis 3-4 – Whatever Happened to Sin?

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:11-13, ESV)

My wife told me about a t-shirt she saw a young boy wearing,  It said, “I didn’t do it, It’s my brother’s fault.”

A man gets drunk and drives down the road late at night and hits a family in on-coming traffic and kills a child.  We overlook the drunk and we get upset and blame God for not intervening to prevent tragedies. Of course, if God intervened, we would complain that He doesn’t really give us free will.

I was standing on a sidewalk, leaning against the wall, minding my business, and this young child walks toward me with her mother.  The child is walking a little erratic and steps over to my side of the sidewalk and trips on my size 10½ tennis shoes and falls.  “Oops”, I say and the mom yells at me for being in the way.  I hate to point out again that I was minding my own business, leaning against the wall, and the child and mother were invading my space.  Yet, somehow, I was blamed.  It was my fault for doing nothing (notice how I blame the mother?)

More and more, I notice that we blame everyone and everything about our sins.  What’s new?  Adam blamed the woman God gave him and in the process blamed God.  Eve blames the serpent.  Everyone is innocent.  This is the story of Genesis.  The origin of sin.  It is our story and it occurs to me that history continues to repeat itself.  God makes something great and tells us the do’s and don’ts, we break the law and consequences happen but somehow God’s or someone else is to blame. Yet, in the end God will transcend our petty complaints.

God gives man free will and man chooses to sin.   A t-shirt represents the philosophy of man…”It’s my brothers fault.” A drunk driver chooses to drive and is guilty of causing the tragedy.  Parents defend their children at all costs. Whatever happened to sin?  It hasn’t gone anywhere.  It’s still right here before us.

God chooses to send His Son to redeem us but we have become too sophisticated to admit we have done anything wrong.  The amazing thing is that our denial perpetuates our sin and we just grow increasingly neurotic.  What’s the answer? It’s time to acknowledge sin is ever-present and claim our need for “the anointed one” (Christ).

Question:

Will we ever look at ourselves and see our sins and take responsibility for them?

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Posted in Blame, Free Will, Genesis, God, Redemption, Repentance, Sin | Comments Off