John 19:10
Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
Pilate made a bold statement to Christ, knowing that He was innocent of the accusations. Pilate said, I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee. Pilate was telling God’s Son that he had the power to hold Him hostage and have Him killed, and he had the power to release Christ from the accusations and punishment that the enemies wanted to do to Him. Jesus reminded Pilate, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above… Jesus wanted Pilate to understand that he did not have this power on his own, but it was Christ who gave Pilate free choice to do with Him what he wanted to do.
The same God that gave Pilate free choice to do with Christ what he wanted gives you that same free choice to do with Christ what you want to do. Certainly, God could at any time force His people to do with Christ what they are supposed to do with Him, but God gives each believer free choice to do with Christ what they want to do.
Sadly, many have abused the free choice that God gives to them. Many have taken that free choice to live a worldly life, but free choice to do what you want never negates the consequences of the sin you choose to do. Many have taken the power of free choice and abused it, only to regret not using the power of free choice to do good. Free choice is not a license to sin, but an opportunity to let God be God in your life to allow His power to do mighty things through you. You can abuse the power of free choice and waste God’s power in your life, or you can respect its power and do right so God can do through you what He truly wants to do in your life.
My friend, you have the power to crucify and condemn Christ for things that you disagree with, and you have the power to release God to let Him use your trials as a tool to show His power through you. The Apostle Paul prayed three times for God to take his infirmity away, but God chose not to remove that infirmity. Paul exercised the power of free choice when he said in 2 Corinthians 12:9, Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Paul exercised the power of free choice to choose to accept God’s grace to make it through his difficulties instead of exercising the power of free choice to become bitter over his life circumstance. Many have crucified Christ in their hearts over situations they disagreed with in their lives, but they did not consider that God was trying to do something mighty through them if they would only exercise the power of free choice to let God’s grace be sufficient so that He could show His power through their life.
Are you holding God hostage in your life? Have you exercised your power of free choice not to let God be God in your life to show His power through you? If you choose to exercise your power of free choice to let God be God in your life, you will find that God has the power to take your life and do something mighty through it with the circumstances that He has allowed to come your way. With any power comes great responsibility, and with the power of free choice we can condemn God and become bitter, or we can release God to do in our lives what He deems best. We will find that God will be God in our lives and will show His mighty power through us because we exercised the power of free choice to let God be God.