Who Threw the Stone?

Who Threw the Stone?
In the Academia Gallery in Florence Italy stands
Michelangelo's statue of David. If you have seen it, or
pictures of it, you know it depicts David with his sling,
shortly before taking on Goliath. It is truly an awesome
sight.

My wife and I recently returned from a wonderful trip to
the Tuscany area of Italy which included some time in the
beautiful city of Florence. When we visited the city back
in 2001, our local city tour guide was a lady named
Francesca. And this time, once again, to our delight, our
guide was Francesca.

I have been told that there is no one who explains the
statue of David better than Francesca. She's been doing it
for quite awhile now. She is in her eighties. She is very
knowledgeable. She is also very passionate and outspoken.
She was flattered that we remembered her.

And as our group stood there in the Academia Gallery,
gazing at this 17 foot masterpiece, Francesca pointed out
many, many details. But what I found to be most
interesting was her interpretation what Michelangelo was
trying to convey in this sculpture.

She told us that the artist was doing something different
than what the other artists of his time were portraying.
Michelangelo was not showing David victorious, but rather
showing him before the encounter.

She pointed out that David showed a little apprehension,
but that he was focused and determined. She had us take
note of his neck and the blood in his vein.

And then she said, "David had to throw the stone. God
didn't throw it for him. Yes, God can and will help, but
He will not throw the stone!"

That statement is so accurate! People so many times forget
that God has given all of us free will. He will not
overstep our free will decisions. Yes, He is more than
willing to help, but it is still up to us to believe and
accept His help.

Francesca was making an important point that is contrary to
the thinking of many Christians. Far too many are waiting
for God to do it. People say things like, "If God really
wants me to have this or do that, then He is going to have
to do it." But if that is true, then what about free will?

It's like one evening on the trip to Italy, a huge dinner
was prepared for our group. We all arrived and were
welcomed to the restaurant. The atmosphere was very warm
and friendly.

The abundance of food was staggering!

And yet, no one was forced to eat. We all made up our own
minds to feed our own faces! Our host had done everything
they could in making all of it available, but it was still
up to us, by our free will, to decide to eat.

The Bible says that God feeds the birds. How does He do
it? Does He go around every morning with a big bucket of
worms? Does He then open their little beaks and stick the
worms in? How silly! God feeds the birds by providing for
them through the food chain. But it is still up to the
birds to go out and get it.

And so it is with us! God has given us promises us and He
has well provided for us. He has promised and He has
provided. But He is not going to overstep our free will.
That means He is willing to do His part but we must also be
willing to do our part.

God was involved in helping David, but God didn't throw the
stone at Goliath. That was David's job. If David hadn't
thrown the stone, he would not have defeated Goliath.

Yes, by all means, we believe and expect God's help. But it
is by our own free will that we take the action that is
necessary having confidence and trust in His help.

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Listen to one of Michael A. Verdicchio's Pep Talks at
http://www.MikesPepTalks.com/christians2free.html
Michael has a free newsletter called, THE PEP LETTER, at
http://www.christianinspirationalgifts.com/pepletter.html .
Michael is a husband, father, minister, author, and
broadcaster. He has been the voice on numerous productions
over the years.