“But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’” (Exodus 21:5 NLT)
Did you know the phrase “free will” is not used in the King James Version of the Bible, but the expression of a person’s will is implied in hundreds of verses throughout the Bible. The above verse speaks to the circumstances surrounding a Jew who under difficult circumstances may become a slave to a fellow Jew, but Jewish law demanded they would only be required to serve their master for seven years, then must be set free.
However, through the direction of the slave’s free will, they could choose to not go free but become the permanent property of their master. We may think that’s great or awful, but the truth is, as Bob Dylan sang: “we gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but we all gotta serve somebody!”
C.S. Lewis asked an insightful question: “Why, then, did God give them (us) free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.” Life is filled with decisions, all of which are an act of the will. Love isn’t an emotion, it’s a decision, but love can lead to a lot of other decisions that will lead to actions that will verify or deny what we think we believe.
The will to decide for ourselves is behind everything good or bad that occurs in our lives. Choice will lead to consequences, either positive or negative. It’s like flying a kite. As long as we hold the string, we have some measure of control, but when the string is released it’s out of our control. Words fly freely out of our mouths, but once gone we have no control over the positive or negative results that may follow.
There are those who view their lives and conclude: “I don’t need God or a god. My life is great. I have a great marriage, great kids, great health, great income, great retirement, great ________! I have everything I’ll ever need.” And my response would be: “Until it’s not great anymore. When sickness and death come. When what you need, money can’t buy. When your soul-sickness is eating you alive from the inside out. When the thought of God finally occurs, but only in cursing Him for letting your bubble burst.”
The Bible explains that one day every person will stand before the Lord to give an account of their lives. It also says that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Here’s the tragedy: for many it will be too late. That’s the agony of hell. When we close our eyes in death everything will be crystal clear. We’ll each one understand perfectly the consequences, both good and evil, of the decisions we alone have made in our lives.
There will be no more blaming God because we’ll each see precisely as God has always seen. We won’t be screaming and shaking our fists in God’s face, we’ll be begging for forgiveness and mercy that’s no longer an option because the judgment has been measured and the books of life have been closed. That’s the horrendous torment of hell. There won’t be blaming and commiserating because we’ll know why we’re where we are and will have no one to blame but ourselves, but even if there was a shred of desire to blame, there won’t be anyone there to listen to us and besides, it will be totally dark.
PLEASE DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE!
Do whatever it takes to help everyone you know and love find Jesus before it’s eternally too late. Hell is a horrible price to have to pay for our ignorance, especially when Jesus has already paid for our forgiveness and a home in heaven.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed
Walking With Jesus 