Willy Wonka
Every time I turn around this week, predestination seems to catch me. I’ve been in Bible studies where it was discussed and this morning my devotional study featured it (from a devotion series entitled “Learning God’s Laws” with R.C. Sproul).
“Does man have a free will?
This question is one of the most frequently asked questions of theology. At times, it is not voiced as a question but as an objection to the whole idea of a sovereign God.
Free will does not mean that man can choose to do anything he pleases and necessarily succeed. We may choose to fly without the aid of mechanical devices. We can fall through the air by ourselves, but we cannot fly through it. We lack the necessary natural equipment (in this case, wings) to fly. This does not mean, however, that we are not free. It does mean that our "freedom" is limited by our natural physical limitations. My will may be outvoted by the will of a majority or by some higher power. Such conflicting power does not eliminate my freedom but may surely impose limits on it.
Then to add to this, my Bible reading plan passage for today included this:
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.” - Deuteronomy 31:16-22 ESV
In my mind, I remembered the scene in Willy Wonka (the good movie with Gene Wilder) where one of the kids (Veronica, I believe) is about to do something bad that she was told not to do and Gene, playing Willy Wonka, says “Stop, don’t” in a very laid back tone knowing that she is going to do it anyway. I imagine that is how God feels about us sometimes. He has told us what to do and what not to do and it is always for our own benefit. But he is also God, knowing every choice we are going to make saying “Stop, don’t” knowing that we are going to mess up and sin anyway.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” - Jeremiah 29:11
The interesting analogy of Willy Wonka movie is that all the kids get taken out by their own sinful behavior and loose the prize of a lifetime supply of chocolate. Charley, the hero child of the movie, ends up winning but not because he didn’t sin just like every other child but because Willy Wonka forgave him after an act of contrition near the end of the movie.
How much better would our lives be if we trusted what God has told us to do and followed that instead of our own natural sinful desires? Praise God that he sent his son to be our substitute so that we can reconcile with God.
