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In all of creation there is only one entity which can choose NOT to obey their Creator--that is man.
By the word of God the world was created with its teaming millions of lifeforms. Even the heavens--sun, moon, and stars--became at His command. God commanded and nature responded in perfect obedience.
But man is different. Man was created in the image of God and given a most precious gift--the power of choice. So man's response to the word of God is to stem from an intelligent comprehension of the very character of God. Can He be trusted? Can He be taken at His word? What are His intentions toward man? Does He have man's best interest at heart?
These questions must be answered in the mind before a naturally distrustful and suspicious mortal will respond favorably to God's entreaties. I want to look at one particular aspect of God's character as it relates to man's freedom.
Jesus, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5, said the greatest (premiere or first) commandment was, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength."
Now I ask, how is a person to obey this commandment? Is our love like a water faucet which can be turned on or off at will? Or, will God go against our disobedient nature and force us to love and serve Him? Is that even possible as long as we retain the right of choice? The word of the Lord will not return void but will accomplish that which it is purposed to do.
So, what do you think? While we are drawn by the demonstration of God's love for us, is our love enlarged by fellowship with God? If so, then what is fellowship with God?
References:
Mark 12:29,30 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, 'Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:' this is the first commandment.
Deuteronomy 6:4,5 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
(Yet, these are the first commandments of the Ten Commandments. Are they related to the "first commandment" which Jesus quoted? How?)
Exodus 20:2-7
I. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
III. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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