My Free Will

Everyone is created with a free will.  This provided Adam and Eve with the reason or means of disobeying God.  I happen to believe Adam is not only a representative of every human being—he was more—he was LIKE every human being.  What I mean by that is—given the choice—every one of us, sooner or later, would have eaten the fruit.




Adam’s free will gave him a choice.  His choice was simple—obey God or act independently.  He chose independence and suffered the consequences.

In our freedom, we live life making choices.  We choose a spouse, a baby’s name, a kind of car, a vocation, etc.  Our life is one continual choice.

Spiritually speaking:
(The following is gleaned from  Gerald G May Addiction and Grace)

In our spiritual life—freedom of choice—gives you basically 3 alternatives:

# 1.  You risk total obedience to Christ.  
# 2.  You strive for autonomy—and do your own thing.
# 3.  You give in to whatever power or addiction grips you.

Risk total Obedience
This is the life of pure spirituality and we occasionally find it.  It is 100% obedience.  It is a total risk.  You live a life of unconditional and absolute surrender to God’s will and ways.  This is totally risky because you lose your opinion, your say, your desires, your wants.  It is risky because in our culture of democracy, your opinion and choice, is king!

Strive for Autonomy
This will kill your spiritual life. This kind of choosing says: I’m boss!  I’m first.  I run my own life.  Nobody is going to tell me what to do!

Give in 
This will thwart and hinder your spiritual life.  This is giving in to addictions or what May calls attachments. These addiction are anything from potato chips to cigarettes. Or they may be popularity, talking too much, not talking at all, cars, books, movies, seeking admiration and love from others, etc.

——

Lord—it’s time again to surrender.  It is time again to lay my life before you and ask for the Spirit to do surgery.  There are growths in my life—things, people, stuff, attitudes, wants, desires—things that are hindering my spiritual life.  Lord, I choose to surrender to you.  I want to risk total obedience to You!


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