The Beauty is in the Choosing

Maybe it's just my kids, but it seems their most thought provoking questions come at bedtime. Most often, I defer my answer to an hour when I'm not exhausted, or they aren't purposefully evading sleep. Sometimes, their words settle in at the right moment, strike a chord, and I respond.

One night, this question came: "Why doesn't God just make us obey?" As I spoke the answer that many have given, "Well, because then we would be like robots and not people," a picture from a movie the kids liked formed in my head. Do you remember when WALL-E the robot first met Eve? He thought she was quite special and tried to engage with her, but she was programmed for a task. Eve didn't have a will of her own; she was mechanical. She didn't understand friendship, much less love. By the end of the movie, that had changed. Of course, the illustration isn't without flaws, but it helped my son understand "all robot = no relationship."

There are many days when I mess up and think, "Lord, wouldn't it be easier if you just made me to obey?" But then I remember WALL-E and other love stories (ones not involving robots), and I realize the beauty is in the choosing.

There's nothing rewarding in forcing the object of our affection to love us back. But when they choose to love us. Choose us over anything else. That's satisfying. That's thrilling! That's relationship.

God wants relationship, not robots. Though He knew I would fail time and again and could never match His extravagance, God lovingly chose relationship with me through His Son, Jesus. Earnestly, He longs for me to do the same.