“Life is good!” That slogan is on the wheel cover of my little red jeep. When I drive it in the summer, with the top down, it couldn’t be more true! This morning, as I sat sipping coffee on our new screened–in porch (a dream come true!), listening to the birds and a wind chime playing soft tones in the breeze, that was my thought. Life is so good, and it is such a gift. It occurred to me that most of the time I take this gift for granted. Life was given to me freely…and although I had nothing to do with my own existence, I have daily choices about what I am going to do with it. Life consists of choices. Making good ones is not always easy, and the rewards are not always immediate. I find that I can usually tell if I’m about to make a wrong choice by how easy it is to make. I thought of a spiritual analogy. Grace is the free gift of forgiveness that brings us into new life in Christ. Although it is given freely, we have to choose to accept it. And upon accepting it, we are faced with daily choices. The choices are not always easy, but now they take on eternal significance.
The Bible is a chronicle of choices, and though some were good, most were bad. The first bad choice the Bible records was made by Lucifer. He chose to leave his position as one of the covering cherubim (the most exalted angels, covering the very throne of God, Eze 28:11-17, Is 14:12-15) and attempted to overthrow God’s throne. His name was changed to Satan, and scripture records that he fell from heaven. Unfortunately for us, he landed on earth! His appearance in the Garden of Eden is a story familiar to everyone. In the form of a wily serpent, he deceived Eve into disobeying God, and she persuaded Adam to do the same. You might say, man didn’t fall, he was pushed! It’s important to remember that all of this was not a surprise to God. He knew exactly what would happen, because He had a plan of redemption in place before time began (I Pet 1:20, Eph 1:4). God created man with free-will, knowing this very attribute of creation would result in the sacrifice of His son. Deuteronomy 30:19 says that God sets before us choices: life and death, blessings and curses, and He pleads with us to “choose life!” All of the pain and suffering in this world is a result of wrong choices, directly or indirectly. Why does God allow it all? Because He is the perfect parent and He has a perfect plan!
An important part of parenting is giving our children choices. We try to teach them the benefits of making good choices. What joy it gives us when our child makes a wise choice, not out of fear of punishment, but because he or she recognizes that it’s the right thing to do (especially when it’s the hard thing to do!). That’s the stuff of character, and it cannot be mandated, no matter how much we love them!
When God created mankind, His goal was to make us His family (Eph 1:4-6). Angels are immortal, ministering spirits (Heb. 1:7). They are not part of God’s family. We were made to become children of the living God (I John 3:1). An angel rebelled and took a third of the angelic realm with him. God is allowing Satan a limited amount of time to influence mankind (Rev. 12:12) because He wants us to understand the consequences of rebellion against God. I believe God wants us to hate sin as much as He does, so that we will reject it now and never, ever, in all of eternity choose it again. Our Father will not make us love Him. He will not make us obey Him. But when we choose God, Christ is formed in us (Gal. 2:20) and we have the gift of eternal life! Yes, life is good, but a bumper sticker I saw recently says it better, “Life is God.”