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The Test of Freewill
One word can be used to sum up the attitude of those who think according to the list above -- freewill. For you to have absolute control of your life, you must be able to freely choose what you want to do; then you must be able to freely exercise your choices. Let's begin to gauge a man's freewill by concluding where he may or may not have prerogative. Among the choices a man would make, would be how to begin in this life, what he will be, what he wants out of life, whether he will live or die. If a man chooses to die, then he would want to choose the date, time, place of death and most importantly, the manner of his death. (1) Which person chose to be . . .
Which baby chose to be . . .
Which child said, "Gee, I can't wait until I grow up, so I can be . . .
If one would choose to die, when thinking about how they might like to die, would a man choose to die . . .
It seems obvious that few people expect their lives to end in these ways. Still, many lives do end by these tragic and sometimes violent means, though most of the people were busy planning the next stage of their lives. There are many other things that could be added to the lists above, but these lists are sufficient to permit some conclusions to be drawn. First, the era, the nation, the race, the family, the economic situation, the gender, the body features into which we are born, are all very important to us. If we enjoyed the freedom to exercise our will without restraint, NO ONE WOULD CHOOSE TO BE POOR, ENSLAVED OR UGLY. Yet, many are born poor, born physically or economically enslaved, and born unattractive. Secondly, many vocations into which many people eventuate are often unglamourous, unfulfilling, low-paying, dangerous and unlawful. Many aspiring actresses become addicted prostitutes. Young men who were star athletes in high school often become drug dealers before they finish college. You may be surprised to find that many street derelicts have college degrees. They serve as monuments to failed dreams: testimonials to their inability to exercise their freewill, even when they have prepared themselves with educational credentials. Thirdly, what man would not abandon his wheelchair, if he could? Who would not trade blindness for sight, deafness for hearing, or a prosthesis for a leg? Who would not trade cancer, MS, MD, TB, polio, or AIDS for vibrant health? Yet, many people still suffer from these maladies, again proving their lack of true freewill. Don't many of the afflicted show up in churches to be healed, seeking the will of Another, hoping to be granted favor? Lastly, if you knew that you were going to die by having your head crushed and your shoulder ripped from your body, on March 4th, 2010, at 3:45 PM in Bend, Oregon, on highway US 97, after being hit head-on by a moving van that had a tire blowout, would you show up in that place, on that date, at that time, in your car? Most people would suddenly remember very important chores that needed to be done. Even if you were brave enough to show up, would you still come, if you knew that your entire family was going to die with you? Yet, car accidents kill entire families every month. What are the odds of blowing a tire at 65 MPH, at the precise moment needed to intersect exactly, another car's line of travel, when that car is also going 65 MPH in the opposite direction? What would your reaction be if this "accident" proved to be scheduled, planned, coordinated and executed to perfection? Job 7:1 Is there not an APPOINTED time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling? Who sets man's appointed time on earth? It seems God is saying that a man's life begins and ends at the times that He appoints: just like you would appoint the time to begin and end the work of a man you have hired. Job 14:14 . . . all the days of my APPOINTED time will I wait, till my change come. Most people never plan to end up where they do. Which child said, "I can't wait until I grow up, so I can be depressed, emotionally empty and commit suicide?" How many little girls said, "I'll be glad when I get married, so my husband can infect me with AIDS?" Does one set a goal to become an alcoholic, an abused spouse, an inept parent, a child of incest or a divorced spouse? Do people set goals to lose daily contact with their children through divorce, or to lose their homes through foreclosure? Does one normally arrive in New York if they set out to go to Miami? Then how did all these people get to where they were not going? How do so many people arrive at undesired places in their lives when they were going somewhere else? The answer -- The King arranges every step of each man.(2) Who can deny that someone else had to be organizing their steps in life if they didn't get to where they were going? "Luck" and "coincidence" are the terms of Satan.Ps 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. A person who has true freewill can choose to operate independently from the will of another. They are unaffected by the will of another. But, which man or woman can operate independently from the will of God? Who can live outside the influence of God? Which man is so strong that God cannot override his will? No man has unlimited freewill, because he cannot escape the will of God. God alone has true freewill. Ecc 3:14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before a servant |