“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver! ¹⁷ The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life. ¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. ¹⁹ Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. ²⁰ Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. ²¹ The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction. ²² Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools. ²³ A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. ²⁴ Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. ²⁵ There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” Proverbs 16:16-25.

Man has a peculiar desire to do what is right only if God did not give him the ability to do what is wrong. That same desire questions the reason why God allows man to have more than one choice in the circumstances where it may apply. Let’s enumerate quite a few examples: (the choice to be faithful to your spouse, the choice to love or to fear, the choice to trust or to doubt, the choice to accept your body as is or to modify it through surgery, the choice to accept the ‘Seal of God’ (Rev. 7:2-3) or the ‘Mark of the Beast’ (Rev. 16:2), the choice to drink alcoholic beverages or not, the choice to accept life or to commit suicide, the choice to believe in evolution or creation, the choice to believe that Jesus was incarnated, lived as a man, died, and resurrected as the Savior of humanity or to not believe that it was so, the choice to take revenge into your own hands or into the hands of God, the choice to criticize others or not, the choice to “go" as the Great Commission commands us (Matt.28:19-20) or to not go, the choice to pay your tithe or not, the choice to worship idols or not, the choice to believe or not believe that God still talks to His followers, the choice to love or hate your enemy (Matt.5:43), the choice to be sincere or not, the choice to trust in man or not, the choice to abort or maintain a pregnancy, the choice to be a Good Samaritan to others or not, the choice to confess Christ before men or not (Matt. 10:32), the choice to work or not, the choice to believe by proof or by faith, the choice to sleep all day and all night, the choice to submit to the Holy Spirit or to evil spirits, the choice to buy a used or a new car, the choice to live according to the world or not, the choice to get an education or not, the choice to face persecution or not, the choice was given to Adam and Eve to eat from all the trees including the forbidden one etc.).

To forbid does not mean to remove one’s ability to choose what is forbidden. As a matter of fact, it is just the opposite. To forbid is to produce the ability to choose. How? If God forbids nothing than only one choice would exist: ‘The choice to only do what God commands to do’. It is under the same umbrella that God allows us to doubt or believe. These abilities—choosing good or evil, doubt or believe—are part of man’s genetic make up and are fully functional without his ability to read, write, see, hear, or be baptized. It is with certainty that the Lord God said:

“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil…” (Genesis 3:22).

If God allowed man to only produce or choose what is right, how then can we fully understand the ‘Love of God’?

Man’s inability to understand this type of love causes him to still question the reason why Satan is still alive. Satan, like any other being, had the right to sin (freewill). The fallen angels had the right to follow him (freewill). Whether we like it or not, whether we accept it or not, the ‘father of lies’ will remain alive until judgment day just as it will be for all wicked men. That is an amazing demonstration of God’s unfailing love. It is this type of love that defines our Creator as ‘The Just Judge’. The Eternal Lord does not destroy any of His creatures the moment that they sin—angels included— except on a few instances when an example needs to be set:

[Story #1]

Acts 5:1-5 ”But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, ² and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet. ³ But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? ⁴ "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God." ⁵ And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came upon all who heard of it.”

[Story #2]

Leviticus 10:1-2 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. ² And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

Our freedom of choice will remain functional as long as we are alive. Inevitably, we have to face the consequence(s) of our choices. We must also recognize that our freewill is limited in certain aspect. We cannot prevent ourselves from aging, we were not able to choose our parents, we were not able to choose our gender, we cannot escape from being a sheep or a goat (Matthew 25: 32-33)—there is no third choice. Right alongside these inabilities and wishes, we come face to face with God's determined will. When God's will must be accomplished based on specific circumstances--our wills are automatically eliminated.

If we dive into the deep waters of Jonah's story, we realize how God overrides Jonah's will. He attempted to run from his given mission but God had him do otherwise. No matter what Jonah had in mind God made sure that His will was accomplished. Can this event conclude that God robbed Jonah of his will? Absolutely not. This is one of many exceptions where a prophet--called and anointed by God--must maintain his allegiance as a prophet. Is our freewill ever taken away from us? Yes indeed. In what circumstances? God must kick our freewill to the side for mankind's benefit (spreading of the Gospel) and in order for His spoken prophecies to be accomplished. God's forthcoming judgment demands for all ears to hear His unchanging Word:

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:14).

It is with this in mind that God removed Jonah's will by redirecting him to Nineveh by means of a big fish. As a prophet of God, Jonah was specifically chosen by His Creator to preach the "Word" to the ears of the inhabitants of Nineveh. It is also for the same purpose that God put an end to Saul's freewill. Saul wanted to remain a persecutor of the Church. However, God needed him to complete the same assignment as Jonah: Go and preach those who have not yet heard the Good News. Christ ended Saul’s career as a persecutor for His own purpose. When Ananias (this Ananias is different from the one lied to the Holy Spirit) questioned the Lord’s decision as it relates to Saul, the One who is slow to anger answered him:

”Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

Many people are still blaming God for Adam and Eve’s sin by placing the forbidden tree in the garden. Well, first of all, our reasoning cannot stand a chance before God’s sovereignty. Secondly, by placing the forbidden tree in the garden, God was demonstrating His unfailing desire to give the first human family the ability to choose—obey or disobey. A creature’s freewill cannot—I repeat—cannot be manifested with one choice (good only). For such reason the ability to do good or evil is part of the genetic composition of all of God’s creatures beginning with the first created being (the enemy of our souls). This enemy committed the first evil act of the universe by violating the laws of the heavens—the laws unknown to earthly man:

“Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?” (Job 38:33).

It is as such that evil thoughts and actions penetrated the once flawless universe and engraved their fingerprints in every molecular structure that form the once impeccable bodies of all the fallen angels including their master (Satan). Even at this enormous cost, the God of heaven and earth humbly allowed the manifestation of His first creature’s freewill to demonstrate to all creatures the fullness of His love. By the way, there is no difference between an evil act, disobedience, and sin. These words are interchangeable. I will not elaborate any further. This is another topic in itself. For all who are curious about the topic: “Who created evil?” you can always reply to the e-mail below with your interest. I will do so depending on how many show interest for the subject.

Whether you are eating, drinking, singing, preaching, whatever you do, do it all for the Glory of God. Live today as if it was the last day you will live for and in Christ.

TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY AND FOLLOW CHRIST!