Free Will

Yes, you have heard this scripture before. This is from Zechariah’s Song. His son, John the Baptist, had just been born and scripture tells us, “Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy…”

…By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79)

The song is a beautiful proclamation of God’s promises being fulfilled in this time. A new age has dawned! Sin and death will be no more! Peace will reign over all the earth! But that was 2000 years ago. As we observe the world around us today, we might have more questions than proclamations.  “A new age has dawned? Sin and death will be no more? Peace will reign over all the earth?” “Why hasn’t God fixed this world yet?”

Read the verse more carefully. God’s tender mercy will not force peace on a willful people. But God’s love, perfectly revealed in Christ, will guide our feet into the way of peace. In Jesus, 2000 years ago, the tender mercy of God broke forth like the dawn. We still have free will. We still have a choice. Shall we be obedient to God or to our own will? Which way will our feet be guided?

See you Sunday!
Missy