By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer

Every time I pull up to the stoplight at the highway intersection pictured above, I exercise my free will by complying with what the sign says.

The first vehicle to arrive at the light has room to stop on the other side of the tracks. The second vehicle might be able to squeeze in behind the first, but the third will be squarely on the tracks, followed by a line of eager motorists waiting for the light to change.

As you can see, the sign clearly says, “Do not stop on tracks.”

The latent twelve-year-old inside my head always chirps, “Duh!”

However, I see people stop on the tracks all the time.

This is a two-lane road with barricades on either side before the tracks. If a train comes while traffic is waiting, the automatic arms lower across the road. I don’t want to be in the car boxed in by other vehicles and stuck on the tracks, unable to escape the situation.

I don’t want the sign above my box at the cemetery to say, “Died of stupidity.”

Simply put, there is protection in obedience. Yet how many times do our independence-hackles rise against such wisdom? We don’t like the word obedience because we want to make our own choices and we don’t want somebody else telling us what to do.

God in His creative love and wisdom gave us free will. He also gave us advice regarding what works and what doesn’t when it comes to living on this beautiful earth. We exercise our free will by taking His advice or not.

At various times, we all choose “not.”

Author and Bible scholar Dallas Willard writes in Renovation of the Heart, “Certainly the will of a spiritual being [mankind] is the one thing in his creation that God chooses not to override … God will not force it to do what he wants. It has its choice – though it does not have its choice of the consequences of choosing what it wants.”

It’s those consequences that bite us.

The fifteenth chapter of the book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about correction, discipline, prudence, wisdom, and other outdated words, particularly verses 5-12. In fact, the whole book is full of witty sayings about wisdom and decisions.

Let’s exercise our free will by listening to what God has to say and making wise choices.

A mocker resents correction;
He will not consult the wise.
Proverbs 15:12 NIV

Choose today whom you will serve … .
But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15 NLT

     Afraid to push any higher than the grass, Mae Ann dragged herself to the nearest bush. Cade scuttled right beside her, shielding her from the rise. He gave her the gun and crept back to the stump for the box of shells. When he returned, he pulled another gun from his belt, holstered it, and tied thin leather thongs from the holster’s tip around his leg. Then he took the first gun and reloaded it.
     His features remained hard and cold as he pressed the weapon into her hand. “Don’t be afraid to use it. Follow your instincts. If MacGrath or someone you don’t know shows up and threatens you, wait until they’re closer than the cottonwood is, aim low, and squeeze the trigger. Don’t forget to cock the hammer first.”
     “Where are you going?”
     His fingers skimmed the hair at her temple as his eyes darkened. “If I’m not back in a half hour, get to Ginger or Cricket—either one—and ride to the house. Deacon may already be headed this way if he heard the rifle shot.”
     She gripped his fingers that lay against her head. “Don’t go.”
     His eyes grazed her mouth before he touched her lips with his own. “Do as I say. Please.” ~An Improper Proposal

Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.

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(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.

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