Barneyisfat

This morning, I got really angry at God for giving us free will. It was one of my "less than rational" moments. I just thought, "hey, if we didn't have free will ... I woulnd't have to deal with sin." I became irate at a God who would force his children into a sinful lifestyle by giving them free will.

There were others who lived a life in fear and hatred of God's invention of free will (no, I'm not talking about Calvinists) to the point that they would kill to keep it a secret. The Pharisees were willing to kill Jesus of Nazareth to keep free will from the people.

See, God didn't give us a list of don'ts to placate us and keep us beat down, nor did he make us robots who all automatically follow his every command and utterance. God gave us free will. Most of the Old Testament laws are to help His people stay healthy and happy, but it wasn't about following the rules.

Jesus wasn't very good at following rules. Oh, I believe that Jesus never sinned. He was never outside of the will of God, but I believe that he could have broken many laws without leaving that will. It wasn't the big rules that Jesus was bad at following - it was the extras. The interpretation of the law that broke down the word of God until there was nothing attainable or desirable.

Jesus' disciples (and maybe Jesus) ate from the plants as they walked through a field. The pharisees had deemed that this was "working" on the sabbath. They were, technically, picking the harvest on the Lord's day.

I got an hour gratis for wearing shorts to class. It's a stupid thing to get all up in arms about, but it's extrabiblical - and it adds another rule that "good" Christians should follow.

God gave us free will. We choose whether we want to follow Him and His rule or if we want to go it on our own. Every time we add a rule of what it means to be a "good" Christian the harder we make it for non-Christians to decide to choose to truly follow God.