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In whatever situation or circumstance that we find ourselves, God’s desire is that we choose Him and exercise our free will towards Him. Whether we are rich or poor, whether we have had our prayers answered or not, whether we are sick in our bodies or we are in health, whether we have food to eat or we don’t have food to eat; God’s ultimate desire for us is that we exercise our freewill in choosing Him. Even though we have the choice to choose other things over God, God desires that we choose Him, and this is why we are looking at this subject matter of FREEWILL.
Listen to Podcast: How to Exercise Our Freewill Unto God
The definition meaning of FREEWILL is: the freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention (Merriam Webster Dictionary). Another Meaning of FREEWILL is: the supposed power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe (Britannica).
I want us to start our observation from the book of Deuteronomy 30:15-20
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
One of the greatest miracles of God to us that He has made in His image and likeness is the ability to exercise our free will, to make choices. Other creations of God do not have this privilege and sometimes, I wonder why God had to make us this way.
Angels don’t have this choice. If you read Psalms 103:20, David said: “Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.” Angels don’t have any freewill of their own, they do the bidding of God. The twenty-four elders don’t have this choice. They cannot decide on their own to say they are not worshipping God again. Animals don’t have this choice. Once you pick an animal to slaughter for food, he does not have a second chance to life.
Why Did God Make Man with Freewill?
1) So that man can know that even though He’s made in the image of God, he has power to make a choice [Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17]
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
2) The number two reason is because God wants man to choose Him [Psalm 14:1-3]
“The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
3 They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.”
3) God loves mankind from the beginning and He also wants man to reciprocate this gesture [1 John 4:7-11, 19]
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 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. 12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.”
Why Do People Find It Hard to Choose God?
Despite all the beautiful things that God has made available to mankind, we still discover that many still find it difficult or hard to choose God.
2) The devil tries to manipulate peoples free will [Genesis 3:1-7]. Sometimes the devil may find it hard to manipulate your spirit, but one area of weakness in many people is in the area of their free will. The devil can easily manipulate this and that was exactly what he did with Eve in the garden of Eden.
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
You will notice something from there that of all that God instructed Adam and Eve, it was only in this area of free will or choice that he attacked. The devil didn’t come from the angle of whether God gave them a purpose or not, the devil didn’t come from the angle of whether they were truly married or not. But in the area of their free will. This shows something that the devil can actually manipulate man’s free will.
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”
2) The Devil has blindfolded the Hearts and Minds of many! [2 Corinthians 4:1-4]
“Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
How do You Exercise Your Free Will unto God
1) Set a dichotomy between what is Good and what is evil, what is honorable and what is dishonorable. The word of God has revealed to us those things which are good and bad, honorable and dishonorable. We must be able to know and understand these things.
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honour all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. 1 Peter 2:15-17 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13
2) Let your thinking be right all the time [Philippians 4:8]. When your thinking is right always, it is going to guide the choices and the decisions you make. Many times, wrong decisions are a product of wrong thinking, and right decisions are a product of right thinking.
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
May God Help Our Hearts in Jesus’ name!
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
