Free Will

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, February 15th, 2026:
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Sirach
​15.15-20

If you choose, you can keep the commandments, and they will save you. If you trust in God, you too shall live, and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.

The Lord has placed before you fire and water; stretch out your hand for whichever you choose. Before each person are life and death, good and evil and whichever one chooses, that shall be given.

For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every human action. He has not commanded anyone to be wicked, and he has not given anyone permission to sin.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

This passage is an anxiety-inducing reminder of how our choices impact the fate of our souls. “If YOU choose”, “If YOU trust in God”, “for whichever YOU choose”… Multiple times we are told in this passage that the choice between life and death is up to us. On the one hand, this should be seen as a good thing. We have free will and therefore have the option to enter into a genuine, loving relationship with God. On the other hand, this feels like a lot of responsibility to put on inherently flawed human beings. 

For me, this passage makes me realize how little control I have. Which is funny, because one would think that having the ability to choose would mean having more control. Instead, I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility and by the thought that I could suffer because of other people’s bad choices. Wouldn’t it be better if God just ordered us to love one another as He loves us? 

As Christians, we are taught that having free will is what makes our relationship with God genuine. Having free will means that God loves us so much that He would rather we choose to love Him back instead of being forced to do so. Love cannot exist in a relationship where one side is unwilling. Yet, I still can’t help feeling that so much of the world’s pain and suffering comes from free will. From the first wrong choice of Adam and Eve, people have kept choosing themselves above God. Because of this, we live in a world of war, poverty, and climate change.

How then can good conquer evil in a world of imperfect human decisions? Sirach offers some comfort here when he says, “For great is the wisdom of the Lord; he is mighty in power and sees everything; his eyes are on those who fear him, and he knows every human action”. This is where I must remind myself again to surrender. Yes, I will make bad choices and so will those around me; but through God’s mercy, goodness can still result. God has not “commanded anyone to be wicked”, meaning that wickedness has never and will never be God’s desire. It’s as the saying goes: “if it is not good, God is not done yet”. 

I will ask God for wisdom and understanding to make the best decisions that I can knowing that God is good, all the time. I trust in you, Jesus. 




Ronnie Noonan-Birch

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