Choosing

 Image by Aline Ponce @Pixabay

The prayer meditation in my morning devotional used the description forever-home for heaven. If heaven is our true home, why did God create us here instead of heaven? Why go through all this human rigmarole? To develop good character?

Adam and Eve were born into a Paradise, one step below heaven. They spoke with God face to face. If they were that close to God, why did He not just put them in heaven and skip Eden altogether?

Then I realized one big factor. True love requires choice. It can’t be forced.

If God plopped us down in the middle of heaven, there would be no choice. God’s love is so complete He gave us a free will. God would never force us to choose Him. But in order to have a choice, there must be something else to choose.

In the case of Adam and Eve, God placed the Tree of Life in the middle of Paradise. He told them not to eat of its fruit, giving them a choice between Him or temptation, Satan in disguise. Their choice caused us to be born into a world of temptations.

We can’t lay total blame on their shoulders. We lean toward temptation by our very nature. But through the birth of Jesus, God not only restored our relationship with Him, but He also became a physical presence. Jesus’ disciples could see, touch, and hear Him, much like Adam and Eve. Still, they too fell into temptation, but repented, and chose God over everything, even their earthly lives.

Through Scripture I see and hear Jesus. I feel his presence when I open my heart to Him. Even so, like the Apostles, I often make the wrong choices. But also like them, when it comes to Whom I choose to give my life to, the choice is easy. 

Merry Christmas! May the peace of Christ be with you throughout this season, through the New Year — always!