Chaplain's Corner!

Whenever I enter a race track driving my Yamaha powered lay down kart, the essence of free will comes alive. I could just, at half throttle, maintain a slow speed of about 60 mph and view the scenery. At Grattan there is the wonderful wildlife and ponds to see. At Gateway it's the oval banking where racing greats of Indy Car or NASCAR run at wild speeds. But it is only after the checkered flag on the return lap to tech when that happens. Of course, free will always seems to operate at full throttle. For example, "Let's see if I can get through this turn and stay on the track." I remember one practice session when I was tired of being a nice guy and rubbed my buddy four times, trying to prove something. Free will is a powerful characteristic which God has given us. Isn't it interesting how we can become driven by unwanted pressures? It is very obvious to me as I go about my jail ministry just how one bad decision can result in a lifetime of disaster.

Do we enjoy too much free will? We have been granted free will by God to either obey or not obey His laws. We are allowed to harm and even kill one another, to fight global wars, to despoil our planet. We are even free to defy God, to live without restraints as though the other world doesn't exist. Satan's power influences man's free will by coercing, dazzling and destroying. Human beings can influence man's free will too, by forcing others to do just about anything they want. Satan's power is external and coercive, but God's power is internal and non-coercive. As in the case of a parent or lover, love can be rendered powerless if the beloved one chooses to spurn that love. Jesus, or "God With Us" as we celebrate at Christmas, submitted to man's free will which resulted to his being nailed to a cross until death. But we know that God sent down His only Son to redeem the world. Only Jesus, the Son of God, was good enough to pay the price for our sins.

Man's free will is a powerful characteristic. Choices on the race track or whether we choose to eat healthy food or that which raises our cholesterol is not too critical. But how we conduct our lives, and the end direction of our souls, is of extreme importance. Jesus said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" The most frightening part of man's free will is that the power and judgment of God comes into play when we die.

In conclusion, don't blame God for the bad results of man's free will. Know that God loves you. Read John 3:16: "God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:18 says: "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

Some of the thoughts of this article come from the book, The Jesus I Never Knew, by Yancey.

Chaplain Ken