Yet there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

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It’s easy to think in our day-to-day lives that we are the center of our own worlds. Our desire to be the center of our own worlds, putting ourselves in God’s place, is one of the root causes of sin. That seems to match what we see anyway. And yet, we see in scripture that the exact opposite is true. Maybe, just maybe, we should let a loving, omnipotent God be in the driver’s seat when it comes to our lives.

From the scripture above, it’s bleak if you want to live a life in the driver’s seat. Read again. There are a lot of very clear, all-encompassing statements; there is one God, from whom all things came into being. It continues that there is one Lord (Jesus) through whom all things came. That’s a lot of back-to-back absolute statements. The implications are huge. If God created everything, that means everything hinges on him. Including us.

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In the light of the absolute truths, you would expect to find little freewill in the face of such an overpowering, all-encompassing truth, and yet, there is something very interesting about the passage. That is not what the scripture says. The absolute statements are followed by personalized ones, indicating that there is in fact a choice. Truth is absolute, but there is a choice if you want to live your life in the reality of the truth that everything hinges on God.

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The truth is that God created everything, and we rely on him for everything. It doesn’t say that God created 99% of the universe and we put some finishing touches on things. The choice is whether we decide to live in such a way that acknowledges that truth. If we believe that God created everything and that everything hinges on what he says and does, then how we live will be completely different than if we place ourselves in the driver’s seat.

Father, thank you for our existence. Thank you for the world we live in and for making your presence obvious in creation. And thank you for then giving us the dignity of choice to decide if we are going to follow you after you have made it all clear. I pray that we live in such a way that is obvious that we believe in your preeminence. Amen.