“I call heaven and earth to record this day
against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”--Deuteronomy
30:19 (KJV)
Matthew 7:
24-27 gives us the parable of the wise man and the foolish man. One guy builds
his house directly on sand. The other one constructs his on a rock. A sand
castle can be beautiful, but it’s not a good option for a permanent residence,
even as a doll house. It will eventually get washed away. A house made of sturdier
materials, such as stone, on the other hand, can provide shelter for many years.
Jacob and Esau
Loved ones
may make short-sighted decisions that jeopardize their health, relationships,
or finances. This is what Esau did in Genesis, chapter 25. The hungry man sold
his birthright for a bowl of stew. Of course, Jacob wasn’t entirely innocent,
but that’s another blog post.
In ancient
Israel, the birthright (bekorah) was a privilege given to the firstborn son. It
had to do with leadership, authority, and the inheritance of property. The
oldest son dealt directly with the Lord. It was an oral contract as binding as
a written one. See more in this article
on housetohouse.com.
My Symbolic Dream
I was visiting
a run-down high school. I was drawn to one wall that was almost completely
covered with glass. The windows were huge. They provided a view of everything
happening down on the street.
The weather
was snowy and freezing, but no drivers were cautious. I mean, nobody looked
ahead even a few feet. As I looked down, I saw multiple accidents. I even spied
one motorist driving down the icy, snowy road backwards at about 40 mph. Needless to say; he started a chain
reaction of collisions.
Dump trucks
and garbage trucks crashed and overturned. Old sedans rear-ended Porsches, and
vice versa. Finally, the entire road was blocked by wrecked vehicles and
screaming people. Emergency response teams couldn’t get through.
I kept
trying to warn the motorists and pedestrians. I screamed and waved my hands frantically
from behind the window. My actions went unnoticed for three reasons:
- I was on an upper floor of the building.
- The noise at ground level was deafening.
- Nobody thought to look up in the middle of the chaos.
The Moral of the Story
The tale
teaches us to use common sense and plan ahead. Here are the other main messages
that stand out to me:
You can’t force anyone to make wise
choices. Free will is sacred.
My Conclusion
Every
choice, big or small, either moves us either forward or backward. It may also
hurt other people, or help them. Please enjoy these quotes on free will from brainyquote.com:
“You are free to choose what you want to make
of your life. It’s called free agency or free will, and it’s your birthright.”—Sean
Covey
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“There’s too
much tendency to attribute to God the evils that man does of his own free will.”—Agatha
Christie
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“God gave us free will, and we may choose to
exercise it in ways that end up hurting other people.”—Francis Collins
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“God seldom suspends
the laws of nature, just as God does not remove free will to keep evil people
from doing evil things.”—Adam Hamilton
Related Posts
Are you using your free will to build
with sand, or rock?
Free will is sacred, as you stated. But it can also be hurtful. God gave man free will and it must hurt him deeply when his creation rejects Him. On a human level, I am sure many of us have been terribly hurt by the decisions our friends or family may have made to reject us.
ReplyDeleteCarol Graham, I couldn't agree more. Hearts get broken when people use their free will in malicious ways.
ReplyDelete