The power of the choice

I’m a sport fan through and through. Where there are two individuals or teams battling it out against each other for the glory of victory – I’m there glued to the T.V. Hey I’ll even watch a game of netball if it looks like a close contest! The thing about sport, in particular winning at sport, is the battle to overcome all odds and opposition to prove to be the stronger, fitter, faster man or woman on the day. The thrill of victory is made most real in the presence of the genuine threat of defeat. It’s just not the same if you rock up to the SCG to see the Australian Cricket team do battle, when their opponent for the day is the under 13 girls B team from Mudgee. (Although on current form you’d be a brave man to bet against the young ladies) The point is – if there is no possibility of defeat, then victory loses all meaning.
Now even though God is a fanatical Sydney swans fan, I'm sure He loves all sport, and it was Him who actually invented the concept of victory and defeat in the first place.
People so often site the fact that there is so much evil, pain and suffering in the world as their major case against the existence of God. However, what if God’s most powerful act of love was to wire within our hard drive the capacity to make real decisions that have real consequences. I’m sure God could have made us to be entirely good without the option of doing anything wrong, yet could you imagine being a robot that could only do what you were told?
God knows there can only be love if there can also be hate, there can only be good if evil is also an option and there can only be victory if it is possible for us to be defeated by life's temptations. There's just no other way.
It seems like such a risky plan to let us choose whether we will accept and return His love, but when we do, it is actually real. God waits longing for us to choose Him, but he never forces our hand, You can’t very well choose to open yourself to God unless you can choose to reject him.
You were made with the incredible capacity to choose how you will live. There is so much evil in the world because people choose it all the time and God does not take that ability away from them. Sure God could stop evil, but in doing so he would violate who he has made us to be. In the words of a friend of mine “God has given you a free will, let that be a warning to you