God is the greatest being in the Universe. He is greater than anything we can imagine, and He created us. Even though He is the creator, and He has all right to do as He pleases, He does not force anything unto us. He gives us choice. Giving choice shows how much He values us and our opinions. The Bible shows us examples of this. For instance, God listened to Abraham when he pleaded for the few righteous inhabitants of Sodom before He destroyed it (Genesis 18:22-33). God valued Abraham’s opinion. It shows His great love and respect for us. It shows us that He really sees us, even though we are small in the vastness of the universe.

Man’s First Choice

In Genesis 1:26, the Bible tells us that God made man in His own image. We were supposed to be His representatives who are like Him on the earth. Then God gave man dominion on the earth. Man was given reign over the earth to run things how he chose. This was the perfect man, made by God who did not yet know evil. So, He made us and gave us choices, but we chose our way instead of God’s way. The Bible shows us the consequences of this choice.

God put Adam in the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it and told him that he could eat from every tree in the garden except for one, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam that if he did eat from that tree that he shall die (Genesis 2:15-17). Even here, God did not force Adam. He informed him and allowed him to make his choice. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve made the wrong choice and death was the consequence. Fortunately for us, God did not let that be the end of mankind. He had a plan in place for salvation to rescue us from death.

Salvation

Salvation too is a choice. The consequence of the first choice was death, so God came and took our place and paid the price by dying. He did His part, and we need to do our part. We need to accept his payment for our sin, and then we can be saved. Again, He does not force salvation on us. He has given us a choice.  We can choose to be saved or suffer the eternal consequence.

Consequences

Many accounts in the Bible show us that when God’s people chose to go against God’s word, the consequences were enormous.

Adam and Eve

As mentioned previously, the first choice was with Adam and Eve. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  They had the choice to obey God’s words or not. They chose to disobey God (Genesis 3:6). The consequences of this were great. It meant death to Adam and Eve and all their descendants, which is mankind (Genesis 3:14-19). This was one of the most important choices made in the Bible.

Abraham

God told Abraham to leave his country and his family and that He will bless him and make him a great nation (Genesis 12:2-3). God promised Abraham that He would bless him, but Abraham and Sarah, after many years, became impatient and tried to help God with this blessing. They decided to have their child through Sarah’s servant Hagar. But this was not what God had for them. This choice brought consequences for Sarah and Abraham. When Hagar became pregnant, she treated Sarah with contempt. And Sarah dealt with Hagar harshly, and Hagar left them. But God had mercy upon Hagar and sent her back to Abraham and Sarah and told her that He would multiply her offspring.

Moses

God sent Moses to be His representation in the rescue of His people from Egypt. Moses saw God do many miraculous things in the rescue of the Israelites. But still, Moses did not always listen to God. God told Moses to tell a rock to yield water, and it will provide water for the people. Moses had a choice here to obey God’s words (Numbers 20:8-12). But Moses made another choice. He chose to do his own thing and forget it was God who was their provider. The consequence of this action was significant for Moses. God told Moses that he would not get to lead the people into the promised land. And it came to pass that Moses did not enter the promised land.

Jacob

Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. Since Esau came first, he was supposed to be blessed by his father as the firstborn (Genesis 27:5-13). But Jacob and his mother plotted to trick Isaac into blessing Jacob as the firstborn. Jacob chose to deceive his father and stole his brother’s birthright. He was the deceiver and later Jacob was deceived by another even worse than this. Jacob’s father in law married him off to the wrong girl, Leah while he thought, he was marrying Rachel. And Jacob worked seven years for the right to marry Rachel (Genesis 29:18-25).

Jonah

Jonah was told by God to go to the city of Nineveh and call out their evil ways. He was supposed to warn the people to repent and return of God, or the whole city shall experience the judgement of God. Jonah decided that he did not want to do this, so he ran away from God (Jonah 1:2-3). No one can run away from the God of the heavens and the earth. The consequences for this was grave for Jonah.  He was thrown into the ocean and swallowed by a fish. Jonah did not die but spend three days in the belly of the fish. After this, Jonah made a better choice and went to Nineveh.

David

King David was called a man after God’s own heart. Many accounts in the Bible showed that David trusted God. However, David too made some bad choices. One of the most significant bad choices that he made was with Bathsheba. David saw Bathsheba one day and lusted after her. And even though he learnt that she was married, he still sent for her and slept with her. This resulted in her becoming pregnant. David eventually sent her husband to fight in the most dangerous position in the army, and he was killed. David then married Bathsheba, and she gave birth to a son. And at this point in the account, the Bible tells us that God was displeased with David’s choices. David chose to sin against God, and so there were consequences. This same child became ill, and David prayed to God for his healing, but the child still died. Such a grave consequence (2 Samuel 11:1-27).

Solomon

God loved Solomon, David’s son (2 Samuel 12:24-25). David instructed Solomon to walk according to the word of the Lord, and so Solomon will prosper in all his ways (1 Kings 2:1-4). Solomon loved God, and he asked Him for understanding to rule the people as their King. And God gave Solomon more than what he asked. God gave him wisdom beyond any man who ever existed, past and future. God also gave Solomon riches and honour (1 Kings 3:9; 1 Kings 3:13-14).

And even after all this, Solomon made the wrong choice. The Bible tells us that Solomon loved many foreign women, but God had instructed His people not to marry foreign women because they would turn them away from God (1 Kings 11:1-8). Solomon turned from God and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. God was angry with Solomon, and He warned him about this. But Solomon did not listen (1 Kings 11:9-10). And so, God told Solomon that He would take the kingdom from his son and give it to his servant (1 Kings 11:11-13). And it came to pass that Jeroboam, servant to King Solomon, became King over most of the kingdom when God split the kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 11:31-34).

Peter

Peter was one of the most fervent disciples of Jesus. And when Jesus told Peter that he would deny knowing Him, Peter said that even if he had to die with Jesus, he would not deny Him (Matthew 26:34-35). Then they came to take Jesus away, and the Bible tells us that Peter denied knowing Jesus three times just as Jesus said (Matthew 26:69-75). Even though Peter knew this was coming when put in the position to make a choice, Peter chose his life and denies Jesus.

Conclusion

The Bible tells us that God is waiting and knocking at the door for us to respond (Revelation 3:20). We have a choice and be mindful that the consequence of this choice is great. He is the God who is limitless, but still, He has honoured us by caring about our choices. He has allowed us to choose Him or not.

The Bible tells us that we are called to be free but be aware that we should not use our freedom to indulge the flesh but rather serve one another humbly (Galatians 5:13).

What does the fact that He gave us choice say? He has a great love for us. He trusts and has confidence in us. He gave us choice and knew what we would do with it, and He knew He would have to come and save us if He did not want us to be destroyed. Then why give us choice? Maybe its because He wanted to show us how much we need Him. So perhaps this should inspire us, even more, to choose Him. To realise we cannot do it on our own. Take heed from the examples He has presented to us in the Bible. Let us not continue to betray His trust and confidence in us. Let us show Him we understand that we need Him.

Summary

• God is The Ultimate
• Yet still, He has given us choice
• The Bible shows us that repeatedly man has chosen to go against God
• And the consequences are great
• Let us learn from these examples
• Let us choose correctly and choose God
• Accept His gift of salvation and live by His Word

All photos were taken by Kyle or Vani. These photos are from the many adventures we have been blessed to experience together. We are so grateful for every blessing from God. No filters were used nor were the photos edited except for an occasional crop. We hope you enjoy.