A Matter of Will: Part 2

Thanks to our will, we get to make choices day by day, even moment by moment. Choices come first (our will), then actions. The same can be said for God.

Recently, I was intrigued by all the choices mentioned in Psalm 78. It was a reflection on the days of the Exodus. God had made His will known by giving some commands and laws (Psalm 78:5-7). Yet, the people made some bad choices.

God’s will exhibited as anger at times, and mercy at other times. We’ll touch on a few highlights, but I encourage you to read Psalm 78 for yourself. Notice the will of the people and the will of God.

God never leaves us clueless. We are blessed with His written word, plus the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, but He never overrides our will . . . the choice is ours.

First, we must choose to read or listen to His Word. Then we must choose to accommodate it. That may mean making some changes in our lives, but will we choose to obey, or not?

Let’s consider some bad choices. That would include refusing to live by God’s law, forgetting all the wonderful things He has done, willfully testing Him, speaking negatively against Him, not even believing Him nor relying on His salvation (Psalm 78:10-11, 18-19, 22).   

What about God? Was He smiling away at all this rebellion? No. The psalmist said He was filled with anger and wrath against them. Yet, He continued to lead them with a cloud by day and fire by night and fed them with manna in the wilderness (Psalm 78:21-25).     

God is longsuffering, but even He has limits. Way back in Genesis 6:3, He said, “My Spirit shall not contend with man forever.” The unbelieving people that are written about in Psalm 78 turn up again in Hebrews with a warning for us against unbelief (Hebrews 3:16-19).    

There will be a day of judgment for all people (Revelation 20:11-14). The “deed” to be judged on that day is found in John 3:16-18.

Please, don’t take that choice lightly.

Pixabay: Thinker, Thinking Person; Clker-Free-Vector-Im.