“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3)
There are two types of leaders, those who force others to follow them, and those who allow others the free will to follow. Which do you suppose the Almighty is?
In one form we could speak of the wicked here and their rebellion against the Creator of all reality, those who will die in their sins. Not until they open their eyes in hell will they figure out that their decision was the wrong one.
But what of us who have been born-again, is every move we make not predetermined by the Almighty, but known by Him? The answer must be yes, or He would not be Almighty, would He?
But now this verse must be brought to the forefront.
“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Prov. 16:9)
I contemplate quite often about our free will, how much of it we truly have, because, at least in the context of us following Him of our own free will and the Most High directing our steps, these seems to be an incongruity. We could in no way give an account to God if all of our steps were directed, for it would be the Holy Spirit then controlling our actions, and those who have no choice cannot give an account for their actions, for by default, they were not their actions.
Are we forced by the Living God to do things against our will? Is He directing our steps, with no disrespect intended towards Him, in subtle ways that leave us no choice in certain circumstances? If we are truly following Him in love and for His glory, does it matter either way?
He leads us, we follow.
He directs our steps, and we have no choice in the matter, even if we did not know there was a different choice, a different option.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)
Every man and woman, saved, lost or wicked, knows this truth, that free will is paramount to our existence, without it, we are slaves, or worse, simple preprogramed beings doing only what we have been programed to do.
I caution you to consider well the following words, we are either slaves to sin or slaves to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no third option.
The One who leads us has spoken clearly, as the Supreme Leader He has made this quite clear.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
Eternal life or eternal damnation. Again, no third option.
Is it enough to say that by us following the Lord Jesus Christ of our own free will that He is directing our steps? If we step off the path that He is leading us on, does He redirect our steps back to it, and if so, is that also beyond our free will? Does God ever force us to follow Him or not?
It is one thing to say that we always want to follow Him, but each of us knows that we do not continuously.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
As that lost sheep, He comes looking for us, does He, in a sense, pick us up and place us back on the path, or does He say to us, return, repent, and continue to follow me?
Our free will in light of the Sovereignty of the Living God is an important subject to contemplate regularly, for we will still have our free will throughout eternity. Whatever hindrances we have today in this life will be removed, but remember this, free will requires that choices are made available to us.
If that ability is removed, then we are nothing less than robots.
