Every good parent desires for their children to grow up to be amazing human beings. God wants the same for you. In fact, one of the most quoted scriptures of all times reminds us that God has a plan for our lives. A good plan! That plan allows us to fulfill the purpose that He has for us. As we discover and walk out that plan, we will experience highs and lows, twists and turns, opportunities and struggles. We will also be given the choice to walk out our own plan.

That choice is actually a gift from God. We call it free will. In the book of Genesis, we see an example of this when God told the first man and woman, Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except that they could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you know anything about this story, then you know that they did not obey God and suffered painful consequences as a result of their disobedience.

Because Adam and Eve rebelled against God every human born after is born estranged from God because of sin. Sin separated us from God. That’s why we need a Savior. When Jesus died on the cross, He bore the weight of every sin that every single one of us would ever commit. When we place our trust in Him, God no longer sees us in our sin. He sees us cleansed from our sin because of Jesus shed blood.

In the garden, Adam and Eve had a choice. We have one as well. God has given us the ability to trust Him as we obey Him and allow Him to lead our lives. He’s also given us the freedom to disobey. Why would God do that? Because He doesn’t want robots for children. He desires authentic love and authentic trust which is the foundation for genuine relationship.