Deuteronomy 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, and love the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by clinging to him.
God has given us free will, a gift of love. Without the possibility of choice, love is no longer true love, but merely forced obedience. C.S. Lewis reminds me that it is precisely because freedom holds the potential for rebellion that love and kindness are all the more precious. God's call in Deuteronomy to "choose life" has taught me that faith is not passive but an active choice to love and obey God. My freedom should not be an indulgence, but an offering of love.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of free will, allowing me to freely choose to love you. Please forgive me for often using my freedom to satisfy my own desires while neglecting your will. May the Holy Spirit guide me, aligning my choices with your will so that my love is not forced but genuine. Please strengthen me so that I can live out true joy and obedience in my freedom. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.