THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE

Matthew 1:19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly

Among the many gifts God gave to man, foundational among them evident in the garden and with implications even in our salvation is ‘free will’. This refers to the freedom to choose, whatever option that may be, regardless of the consequences.

Often, we may have valid claims and solid arguments to support our viewpoint. For Joseph, the option was clear cut – ‘my wife to be is expecting a child that is not mine’. Without offering justification, it will be hard to fault him if he opted to walk away from the unplanned union as he contemplated. However, the phrase that stands out for me was ‘he was unwilling’.

Not that he did not have the option, but he made the choice because he just did not want to. Often, we underestimate the power of our human will. We forget from the beginning, it kicked man out of Eden, and on the last day, it will be the same modality that determines who spends eternity apart from or with God.

We tend to automatically assume that once the will of God is superimposed on the will of men, the later becomes permanently downregulated. That is far from the truth. The reality is there is always a constant battle, a friction between what you can do, and what you choose to do. Your will sits at the centre of this.

#sly