Free Will VS. Choice
Choices on a shelf in Jackson, Wyoming
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”
Since I have been a Christian, there has been a constant dialogue under the surface regarding free will and choice. I'll write another time about the smallness of our brains and how this paradox finds a parallel in the nature of light as understood in physics and engineering. Something today struck me as I read John 15:15 though that deepened my thinking.
How can Jesus declare that I didn't choose?
The answer is simple:
I did choose, but my choosing was so small, wavering and fickle...infinitesimal in view of the gigantic, firm, unwavering choice of God.
What did you choose for lunch today? How many times did you change your mind before you made your choice? Did you doubt your choice after the meal was set before you or after you took your first bite? That is SMALL CHOOSING. God, on the other hand CHOOSES BIG! His choices do not waver. In this context, Jesus can easily say we don't choose him because in light of the hugeness of God's choice, our choice is almost not a choice at all.
There is another nuance as well.
When I decided to follow Jesus, it was because I knew it would be good for me. The truth is that I was choosing me when I chose Jesus! I could only see my benefit and my concerns when I said yes to Jesus. When I chose Jesus, I was choosing me. My yes was simply an extension of my selfishness. When Jesus says that I did not choose him, he was absolutely correct.
What amazing grace that our minuscule, selfish choices don't measure up at all to God's choice of us. The blessing in that is confidence that the BIG CHOOSING GOD chose you! You are a chosen one and it isn't anything like your choice for lunch today. Perhaps it is more like choosing a spouse but that doesn't even approach the huge choice God made in you.
