Viktor E. Frankl, a survivor of holocaust during Hitler’s rule in Germany wrote a book: ‘Man’s Search for Meaning.” In that he writes: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” It is an amazing statement from the experience of a person who was in the valley of shadow of death.
God’s gift to humans is the ‘Free Will,’ so that each person could make his/her own choices. This freedom is the target of Satan. He dislikes this freedom for humans and fights to rob it off. There are at least three ways in which he tries to rob this freedom.
1) Dictators and laws: As Viktor Frankl experienced, those in authority – dictators or autocrats or religious rulers like to have laws over all people depriving them of the ‘Freedom of choice’. This fundamental human right given by God is being robbed by governments. Many countries a person cannot choose his or her religion/faith. Communist regimes and nations that have State Religion are good examples.
2) Myriad of choices: Satan offers multiple choices that can obscure the truth and create a hype making truth irrelevant. Materialism, consumerism, entertainment, luxury, riches, addictions, knowledge, treasure-hunt, adventure, sports…etc.
3) Threat for right choices: There may be opportunity to make right choices, but there is a huge price to pay for it. If a person makes such choice, they could be disowned by family, boycotted by community, lose property rights, lose privileges from government, pushed to second- class citizens, or jailed. Some people are afraid to face such dire consequences.
Yet, God’s gift of ‘Free Will’ can never be deprived by any human or Satanic force. Each person must make right use of this God-given gift.
Have I made right choice of taking up my cross to follow Lord Jesus?