On Freewill

Scripture: Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: "Go, shut yourself inside your house. And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people." Ezekiel 3:24-27

Observation: Ezekiel has been chosen to be a prophet to the scattered Israelites in exile. He will be given words to speak by God. He is now being told that he will not always be free to do as he pleases - he will be held and bound, unable to defend himself, even unable to speak - until God chooses to allow him freedom to act and speak.

However, the rebellious Israelites will be allowed to listen, or allowed to refuse ... repeatedly God tells Ezekiel that whomever will listen will listen, and whomever won't won't, because they are rebellious.

In other words, once Ezekiel agreed to become a prophet, he surrendered his freewill. However, rebellion against God is marked by this characteristic: You have freewill.

Ah, but THERE is the irony ... the Israelites have exercised their freewill, and are now captive, oppressed, and brutalized in Babylon.

Application: This is almost too obvious to talk about. The entire bible talks about surrendering oneself to God through faith and belief in God and Jesus. Non believers feel that makes Christian 'captive' to some set of rules. However, throughout the entire bible we see that surrendering your freewill to God results in a fulfilled life, while refusing to do so - retaining your "freewill" - makes you a slave to sin, other people, desires, vices, emotional trauma, and even physical and mental ailments.

How often do I seek to retain my own freewill? I believe I am doing so less and less, but it still creeps into my thought life a lot ... I consider my own goals and plans and wishes and dreams. There are huge parts of my life I willingly surrender to God, and other parts I may still surrender though less than willingly perhaps. I must continue on this path, aligning my thoughts also to God's will.

Prayer: Abba, father, you are the Lord of my life. My future is yours - from my family, to my career, to my daily walk, may I always and only follow your instruction without my choices impeding your wonderful and perfect plan for my life. I wish others could understand how their rejection of you on the grounds of "freewill" is actually the great lie - the very real prison - leading to their eternal doom. May they somehow discover the freedom of surrender, Lord. Amen.