The World of Grandpa Don

The Devil Made Me Do It

God doesn't make us do anything. What makes us think the devil can? God created us with free will, the ability, and yes, the obligation to chose between good and evil. He placed a heavy responsibility on us.

Before he created us, he created the angels, and he gave them the gift of free will. They had no external source of temptation and some of them still went wrong. They thought they were as omnipotent as God. After all, they had many of the same powers, being able to travel at will in any dimension, and were not subject to hunger, sickness or death. On top of all that they had this ability to choose to be grateful and obedient or to be rebellious and try to start a realm of their own. Lucifer and his followers blew it. They got tossed out of God's kingdom.

So then, God created the temporal universe and us. He probably decided not to give us all the abilities of angels so we wouldn't be so haughty and rebellious. But  He did bestow upon us that awesome gift of free will. After all, what good would we be if we could not willingly and knowingly be grateful and good. There was also another problem. Good old miserable Lucifer and his followers saw an opportunity to gain some company and maybe even get even with God for what happened to them.

Mankind was off to a good start until he got to thinking he was, as an individual, entitled to more than what he had.

He wasn't satisfied with what he had and wanted more. So he took it! Did the devil tell him to take it? He may have. But God didn't give Lucifer the power to override man's free will. God does not force us to do anything and I am sure he did not give the devil the power to do something that He would not do.

So, it is ultimately up to us. We can take the high road, following the path that God has laid out before us, or we can reject Him, following the path of greed and self indulgence. That one leads away from the Kingdom of God, winding it's way to ???? But it is our decision. Nobody will or can force you one way or the other. We can rely on the Grace of God or we can succumb to the devil in the form of life's circumstances and influences. We can follow God's way or we can give in to pride, greed and self-indulgence.  

You can not shift the blame to the devil ... or anyone else ... or anything else. If you did it, it was you who made you do it.

You are responsible for your decisions. God will give you all the help you need but you have to make the decision yourself. It isn't that you can do it yourself, ... you can't. It is too difficult a task. Heaven is God's gift but you have to decide to accept it.

Don Plefka
9/1/03