Deuteronomy 11:26-28 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
God created man with a free will – able to choose on his own. He has not taken away that privilege since creation and we all have that privilege and responsibility to choose. To Israel, God put that choice into perspective – a blessing or a curse. If they choose right there will be a blessing, but if they choose wrong, then there will follow a curse.
Every day we make choices that will either bring God’s blessing or the curse upon sin into our life and the lives of others as well. Since Adam and Eve introduced sin into the human family, we all suffer the results of the curse an experience the problems associated with sin.
People will often complain about the ability to choose when we experience wars, murders, mass shootings etc. and we blame God for it saying, “Why does God allow all this evil?” What we want is for God to limit people’s choices and permit them to only choose good not evil. We want God to prevent the mass murders, wars, child abuse, robberies, etc. Yet while we complain about God permitting man to have a free will choice we do not want to be limited in our choice of sin – fornication, adultery, evil thoughts, temper, anger, revenge, etc. We want freedom to choose what we term “lesser” sins and want Him to constrain those who commit mass murder, genocide, etc. We want our choice in those “lesser” sins but do not want the more violent and far reaching sinful choices.
God has given man the free will to choose evil or good – He prefers and urges us to choose good (obedience to Him and His word) and He explains that choosing evil brings a curse and choosing good brings blessing.
Our choices and those of others have consequences. We have seen them in the killing and wounding of children; the terrorizing of schools and communities and we blame God for allowing people to choose evil. Yet we forget our sinful choices also have consequences – they may not occur right away as the mass murder’s’ does, but they will come forth. In 2 Samuel 11 and 12 we read of the account of David’s choice to look and lust after a woman not his wife. That choice led to adultery, then murder and eventually terrible consequences upon his family. Those consequences took place over a span of years but they came forth just as surely as those who choose to shoot up schools or places of business.
We all have free will to choose – either evil or good – and they do have consequences – blessing or curse. Which will you choose?