First, does knowing the outcome make the journey
irrelevant? Let’s examine this idea a
bit closer. God does know what we will
choose for our lives, but because He does know this, He is able to prepare a
pathway for us to live our way through that requires us to constantly choose
(either for Him or against Him). With
His knowledge He can craft a journey through life capable of leading you to Him
at any point you find yourself in. For
you to wind up without God is going to take steady determination on your
part. It is scary to think you would
choose to turn away from God, but you could do it. That freedom to choose death and separation
from God is yours to make. God will not
remove it from you as He really cannot, and still be the author of free choice.
Your freedom indeed depends on your
ability to freely choose whether or not to follow and serve God. The reason why God places all these decision
points in your path is to give you
EVERY opportunity to serve Him.
You may choose not to, but it will not be for lack of effort on God’s
part to give you a real chance to choose otherwise.
As to whether or not what you decide to do is ‘meaningless’
given that God knows the ultimate outcome, consider this; God knows, you do not. Your choices are in your hands, meaning every
one you make is of the utmost importance.
We talked in an earlier discussion about our nature of building actions
into habits, and habits into part of our character. Making even the smallest ‘good’ choices can
grow into bigger and bigger ones. So can
bad choices. Bad choices tend to be far
more addictive, and entrapping, and will try to tie you to them. Making small bad choices can lead to making
bigger ones, and before you know it, you find yourself miles from anything good
in your life. Do not ever lose hope, as
God can save you still. But letting God
save you, involves realizing your condition, and working to let God choose for
you, what He would have you do, say, or think.
The worst decision you can make is to knowingly reject God. This one is the scariest, and can have
eternal consequences. No matter what you
find yourself doing ‘wrong’ in your life, try not to ever let go of the source
of hope, of forgiveness, of love, and of Salvation. No matter how often, or how low you have sunk,
your Salvation can still be found in God, so hang on to Him as close as you
can.
Some Christians take the opposite point of view with respect
to finding God, they treat it as if it were a singular experience with eternal
results. Stay with me here folks cause
this one gets tricky (i.e. truth and error are very close together on this
one). The truth is you are saved by
Christ, not because of what good or bad you do.
You are saved by your choice to accept His
gift of Salvation. So
perhaps you find yourself right this minute embracing this gift; it is not
impossible for you to change your mind, and walk away from what God has given
you. You are ALWAYS free to choose your
own death. Keep in mind this is not God
abandoning you; this is you abandoning Him of your own free will. Sound inconceivable?
Let me give you a few scary examples to examine starting
with Judas. Judas came to Christ and was
one of the original 12 apostles. He cast
out demons, witnessed and worked miracles, and preached the gospel as he was
instructed to do by Jesus with the others.
But at some point, he felt he knew better how to initiate God’s kingdom
here on earth, and betrayed Christ to His death (never believing Christ would
allow Himself to die). Judas did a
horrific thing, lost his faith in his savior, and committed suicide before
getting the chance to witness the resurrection and perhaps forgiveness. Simon Peter, another of the 12, who also
walked on water, and worked miracles, and preached the gospel with the others,
denied even knowing Christ 3 separate times on the night of his agony. Peter feared for his own safety more than he
loved his master, and he did a horrific thing.
Peter was broken by his sin.
The difference between Peter and Judas was not in how much
they ‘knew’ Christ, or how much they were loved by Christ. They even shared the mistaken doctrine that
Jesus had come to setup His earthly kingdom right then. The difference between them was Peter’s
choice to seek forgiveness and hope in spite of his despair, and in spite of
the plain facts as they knew them. Peter
held on to his faith. Judas let his
go. They both chose how to handle the
despair of their actions, and one chose very poorly. I do not judge Judas, I hope to see him in
heaven, but his response to his own sin is a cutting illustration for us to
learn from. Do we allow the weight of
our own guilt to separate us from Christ, or like Peter, do we fall at His feet
anyway, recognizing our own unworthiness?
My faith rests in God to save me to the uttermost. God is both the author and the finisher of my
faith, and my salvation. In this sense I
trust in God to save me, and believe with
assurance I am saved. But
I also know that I do NOT trust myself at all.
If God does not save me from me, I am to be lost. I am my own worst enemy. I do not trust my own judgment as too often I
have chosen poorly. So I learn to yield
my judgment over to God, and take faith in whatever He decides. My prayers center on the idea of God completely
running my life, and keeping me out of His way.
For I fear, I am too often an impediment to what God wants for me and
for others, rather than being a tool in His service. I aspire to be a useful tool for His
service. But I realize I am not ready
yet.
Choices therefore define
the nature of our journey with God. Getting to know our God better leads us to
truth. Truth confronts us with
choices. Choices bring change. And the gospel becomes a living thing; it
takes on relevance in my every day interactions with others. God transitions from some remote entity who
listens and acts very seldom, to a real and present savior friend who gets
right up in my face, and in my heart, and in my hands – and offers me something
better. This is where the power of the
gospel is found. In coming close to God,
and focusing on Him and what He is like, we are changed from what we were. Notice we are not changed because of anything
‘we’ did; we are changed because of placing our focus on Him. The closer you get to God, the more this
phenomenon happens in your life. Until
one day, you wake up, and find yourself like Enoch, ready to go home with your
God. This is our goal and the nature of
our Salvation, to be saved from evil continually …
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