Psalm 16:6 “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”
Free will: It’s our crowning honor; it’s our greatest source of shame.
Our choices determine how we live in this life and where we will spend the next. Every single person born on the planet arrives with the opportunity to make choices for good or for evil. To choose whether we will cling to our will and make ourselves like little gods or yield our will back to the One who desires we use it to accomplish his great purposes on the earth.
The will proves to be a strong entity. It’s hard to stop pushing our agenda when we think we’re right or when we feel we know what’s best for us. Or especially when it doesn’t seem to make sense. So one of the most radical things we can do in life lies in surrendering our will to God.
It’s a difficult transition, but the benefit of raising the white flag extends to eternity. David discovered this. He said in Psalm 16 the lines had fallen for him “in pleasant places.” How did he arrive at such a place of contentment?
The lines of life fell pleasantly because he chose to let God define the perimeters. He declares, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” (v.5). He asked God to take charge of his life and as long as David chose to let God lead him, he prospered.
We all experience pressure to draw outside the lines. We’re told living within the lines of God’s plan restricts us; it crushes our creativity and prevents us from discovering our real selves. Nothing could be further from the truth. Each day we have the opportunity to make meaningful decisions within the arc of God’s will.
C.S. Lewis explains in Mere Christianity why God created us with this incredible gift. “Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating.”
I hope you realize the dignity God has placed on you through free will. May the choices you make be your crowning honor. And lead to pleasant falling lines.