Free To Choose But Choose To Be Free

1. Exercise your choice wisely

A Christian once asked me a pertinent question, ” Did God make a mistake when He created Adam and Eve who then chose wrongly and brought sin into the world?”. I answered that we are created as human beings who can love . If I am to love, I must be able to choose. If I can’t choose, then I am a robot and thus not human. Given this power to choose, I need to exercise it wisely with regard to God, others and myself so that my free choice will not result in bondage to me. As such, let us learn this truth – “You are free to choose, therefore choose to be free”.

 

2. From free choice to no choice

For Adam and Eve, they were created with the power to choose. God made all the trees in the entire world good for food and pleasing to the eye so that they could enjoy the eating process (Genesis 2:9). Out of the countless trees He made, God told Adam and Eve that they were not allowed to eat from one tree only – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore they were not lacking in food or eye pleasing food. Nearby was the tree of life which was also pleasing to the eye and good for food. Yet they chose to disobey God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and contaminated the rest of us with sin. By exercising their free choice, they ended up having no choice but to sin .

3. Eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Some Christians may feel that if they were Adam and Eve, they would have chosen to eat from the tree of life instead of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. However, I still see many  Christians choosing to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When a Christian continues to dwell on his past hurts and remains bitter towards another person for the wrong they did, such Christians are eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – they continue to be intimately involved (know) with such bitter thoughts (evil). They are eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil without even knowing it. They have free choice but they have not chosen to be free by being bound to their past hurts.

 

4. Eating from the tree of life

Instead, they should eat from the tree of life by forgiving those who hurt them (Colossians 3:13). You can’t have life if you hang on to death (bitterness). Jesus has come to give you life and life more abundantly (John 10:10). Don’t be like Adam and Eve. Choose to listen to what God says. Choose to follow God’s way. When you let God have His way and let God have His say, you have chosen to eat from the tree of life. As you do so, you have freedom of choice and you have chosen to be free from your hurtful past.

Which tree do you still want to eat from?