Lenten Journey Day 17 – God’s Joy Is Our Joy

“If a thing is free to be good, it is also free to be bad. And free will is what has made evil possible.” That is a quote from Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis (Book II: Chapter 3 “The Shocking Alternative”). Today’s devotional poses the question, “what is mankind that you (God) are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” ” Why, then did God give them (humans) free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.” I enjoy how Lewis is straightforward and simple with his explanation of the question. God created us, He loves us and desires a relationship with us not because He created us but because we chose to love Him in return and to recognize we are nothing without Him.

Hebrews 2:5-11 “It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”

Psalm 8:1-9 “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Here’s a rarity the actual voice recording of C.S.Lewis from a surviving radio broadcast from the BBC. I hope you enjoy it.

~Blessings and Peace~
References:
Preparing for Easter by C.S.Lewis
Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis