Freedom to Choose by Lisa Burkhardt Worley
As I reflect on the freedom we still claim in the United States, I am grateful that I’m able to live in this country.
But as a Christian, I am also thankful for the daily freedom that God has given me as well. He did not design us to be mindless puppets. He gave us a brain and free will. We can choose to follow Him and His ways, or we can make the choice to run the opposite direction. I know because I have done that—but I’m glad I came to my senses and turned around.
It’s out of His love for mankind that God allows us to freely choose.
Choose to listen or close our ears.
Choose to go where He leads, or stay put in what we know.
We can also choose to believe the Bible and live it out,
or choose to make up our own set of rules.
It’s all part of the freedom we receive from God. He won’t force us to choose Him but that’s His desire.
The Apostle Peter said, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves” (1 Peter 2:16).
What I’ve found is that even though I’ve turned over the reins of my life to God, my existence is not oppressive. It’s the opposite. He leads me through very exciting adventures in my servitude to him. He takes me places I never thought I’d go, gives me opportunities I never thought I’d have, and provides abundantly more than I ever fathomed I’d receive.
In the midst of it I feel so free!
As I write this blog from a beautiful vacation in Hawaii, from the balcony of my hotel room, I’m watching the waves crash the shoreline. And I think of my analogy for following God. I call it “riding the God wave.” When you surrender your life to God, you flow wherever the Spirit takes you. There are many assignments over a lifetime, and He’ll make it clear when one ends, and another begins. Like in the movie Mission Impossible we can choose to accept the mission or not. It’s freedom of choice, but I would not want to miss one second of what God has planned. I choose Him! I know it’s a thousand times better than anything I could ever imagine.
So today, I am thankful for the God-given freedom to choose, but also that there is a choice in the first place. What about you? What choices are you making?