May 30, 2021
Greetings and blessings to all of you. The world constantly celebrates freedom as the superior option of “doing as I please.” God’s Word teaches us that though we are free, we should not exercise this freedom by making choices that go against His Word. In Deuteronomy 28, God lays out a long list of blessings for following Him and curses for turning away from Him. In Deut. 30:15-18 Moses exhorts the people to use their free will to choose life and blessings. “See, I set before you today life and prosperity death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, 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. But if your heart turns away and 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.” There are many people who feel safe “straddling the fence” regarding what to do with Jesus. One of the reasons for their options is they see them {as painted a neutral gray} rather than black and white. However, there is no middle ground with Jesus. The Lord said, “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Luke 11:23) In the same way the Gospel has no middle ground. God does not force us to follow Him. The ramifications of this freedom to choose have led humans to abuse the planet, each other, natural resources, power, money, etc. through all the ages. This destructive behavior was not God’s intention when He created Adam and Eve. Humanity is hopeless without the hope of Jesus. However, most people prefer to believe the lies of the enemy rather than turn to God’s truth. Moreover, they will choose to “shake their fists at God, defying the Almighty”. (Job 15:25) We may look upon those who reject God and forget that we, as Believers, are held accountable to the same standards. Free will means that we determine the extent of God’s blessing over our lives. God does not bless sin. We cannot blame God for the consequences of our choices if we do not follow Him and His Word. The Bible has examples of the people free will choices and its consequences of disobedience. Moses, Cain, Abraham, David, Joshua, Rahab and the prodigal son, just to name a few. The apostle Paul described people as either slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness. (Rom.6:17-18) Choose..... which one are you?
With the Love of Christ
First Lady VivianC. Currie
Pastor ALC