Have you ever been around folks who like to have their thumbs on everything? We commonly call them “micro-managers.” This term is used to describe folks who give excessive supervision, usually to their employees. Instead of just telling someone what needs to be done, a micro-manager watches closely and gives frequent criticism of one’s work or progress. While this style of management might produce results in the short-term, it lowers morale and may result in people quitting in the long run. No one likes to be told what to do ALL of the time. It makes you feel as though you aren’t trusted to do what you’re supposed to do. Being “made to do” something, can make you resentful and question the reasoning. Maturity occurs when we realize that we want to act in such a way because it’s the right thing to do.
God knew this. While He has given us His plan of salvation, His desires of how He wants us to live and how He wants to be worshiped, He still has left the option of obeying up to us. He doesn’t want us to follow Him because we are “made” to do so. He wants us to follow Him because we love Him, respect His Word, and long to please Him. As a parent, it’s the same way with our children. We want them to “do as we do” because that is the way we’ve taught them, and we want them to respect us and love us. But, we all know that our children may turn aside from time to time. How does it make us feel? Like a failure? It grieves our hearts. What about God? How do you think He feels when we turn aside from what we have been taught? As our heavenly Father, He longs for us to do His will, but He has left that option up to us, and each of us will answer for the lives that we’ve lived on the day of judgment.
The choice of “free-will” has been given to all of us, yet, “wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: (Matthew 7:13). The number of those who spend eternity in hell are much more than those that will be rejoicing around God’s throne in heaven. He has left the decision up to you. What is your choice? Simply blessed, Courtney