Two Wills

In this week’s readings, Saint Paul asks a question that intrigues me: Is Christ divided? When we follow God, we are to follow Him with our whole being. We are to follow Him with every part of us our entire being, which is what is written about in the Old and New Testaments: To follow the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds and our soul. From the very beginning, God instructed the people that there should be no other Gods before Him. God wants us in our free will to follow His will. We have the freedom to serve Him and get all the blessings that comes with our loving, understanding God. We are instructed to have a singular will, that where our will is aligned with God’s will. The antithesis of this concept comes from the very word we use for the devil. The Greek word, diabolos, which means to be divided, it also means to have two wills. Satan comes into our lives, our families, and our faith and puts a little twist into the truth. He comes in and divides our will so that we have to make choices—a choice to sin—that very definite willing choice point past temptation, or the choice to follow Christ and His loving understanding.

Most times Satan comes to us with things that are seemingly “normal”, things that have no power by themselves. Let’s take the recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado. I know that most people are going to blame the movie "The Dark Night Rises" as the vehicle for this blatant satanic attack. However, we always forget it was Satan who was behind the action. It was his inspiration that divided the shooter's will from God's will. Make no mistake, we live in Satan's realm, we live under his rules when we exist in this world. But, his authority and power only come into existence when we give him the authority and power over our will. We must willingly discern which is his advice, instruction and/or temptation. We are the very breath of God, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, how on earth with all of God's power would He allow evil to befall us? It is true - evil does befall all of us, the good people and the evil people alike are plagued with wickedness. There is no doubt about the state of this world. We have evil around us always. But, that evil does not have any authority over us. Is it not written, No weapons fashioned against us will prosper? Why? Because we who are Christians are servants of God.

Satan can inflict us, as we read in the Book of Job, but the thing that no one seems to remember is that nothing can happen to us without the will of God. God's hands protect us always, and if evil befalls us it is because, first of all Satan asked permission for that action or actions to be done and second of all, and most importantly, God allowed this to happen. Now, in my opinion, I believe that God wants us to love and trust His will in all things. God wants us to know how much He loves us. He sent His Son, and He willingly died on the cross for us. He willing set His creations' well-being above that of His own. Everything that has befallen this world stems back to one single act of disobedience, one single act of Satan coming in and dividing our will from God's will. Satan studies us, watches us and he waits for the opportune time to come in and steal our, joy, our happiness, to destroy our families and friendships. Satan wants us miserable and depressed. He wants to steal, lie and kill. It is his nature to do so. It is his nature to have two wills and inflict us with the same treachery and wickedness.

God in His justice and mercy allowed evil to befall His Son. Jesus came down to earth and was crucified for our transgressions. He did nothing to deserve the punishment He received, but because Satan is the ruler of this world Jesus fell under his “authority” on this world, and He was sentenced to death for us. But, with that divine act of love we were saved. We were brought out of the darkness of hell and death and brought into the light of opportunity to come and access into the kingdom of heaven. We have the choice, because God has given us the choice in His love. In my opinion, if God was not in control of everything, life would be much harder and evil would prevail always and completely. God has given us time to change our lives, but that time is not forever—He is coming, but this time He is not coming as the lamb, but as the lion. He will be coming with all the armies of Heaven. Whose side will we be on when He returns? I choose the side that is going to be victorious. I choose to follow Christ, even if it means my death.