DEUTERONOMY 11
What a great verse from today’s chapter: "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse — the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known." (vs 26-28)
It never ceases to amaze me — that the all-powerful Sovereign of the Universe prefers to create intelligent, free beings with the power to decide their own destiny in life. We can choose to continue to have life — of course, this must be done in harmony with the Law of Love, since everything in the universe runs on that principle. Or, we can choose to separate ourselves from God by rejecting the Law of Love — unfortunately, this results in death.
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God gives a blessing. Sin gives a curse. But we are given the power to make the decision — and God respects the choice we make!
It reminds me of Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus, when He introduced the idea that man has a choice to be "born again." When you think of it, nobody had the choice to be created or not. Not us, not the angels. But God believes in freedom so much that the act of our creation isn’t the last word in our existence. We get to have the last word. If we choose life, we can opt into the second birth. If we don’t want to live life according to the Law of Love, we can opt into the second death. Either way, we get to choose.
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For God to create even one intelligent being capable of rejecting Him, He took an extreme risk of rejection and hurt. This required an immense amount of vulnerability and humility. But, in His eyes, this was worth it in order to have the opportunity of a love relationship with us. Our freedom is the most important thing to Him. He gives us the power in our relationship with Him.