I am Fred’s Will

by Dee Bowman

Hello. My name is Will. I belong to Fred’s mind. Sometimes I am hard to find, but when it comes time to get something done, I am the mental mechanism Fred turns to.

You see, Fred’s mind gets him ready for my work. He is all the time taking in new information and is constantly involved in new situations. Then there are lots of things he has observed or read or experienced before. He recalls all sorts of situations and circumstances he knows about. All this must be sorted out, kind of like filtering. Fred compares all the new information to what he has proven before, what he has already adopted as his code of ethics. Part of the new he keeps, part of it he throws away. That’s where I come in. I help him choose.

I am Fred’s ability to decide, to resolve, to purpose. Some folks call me “Will Power, and that’s basically so, because I am the power by which Fred decides everything he does.

I am one important factor that makes Fred different from all the others of God’s creatures. God gave me to Fred just like He gave a will to every other human. Men like Joshua and Moses had to decide things (Joshua 14:15; Hebrews 11:25). Every man does.

Rocks and trees don’t have a will; they operate on an assigned program from which they cannot deviate. They can’t decide to do otherwise. They’re locked in. Dogs and cows don’t have a will like me, either. They operate under a law of necessity. They don’t decide to eat, they just get hungry and eat. But I make it possible for Fred to make choices according to his own thinking. In short, he can do what he wants to do.

I not only have to do with what Fred does, but what he thinks as well. With me, he can decide what will be resident in his mind and what will not. And while Fred may well do anything he wants (“Nobody can tell me what to do), he must still be prepared to deal with the consequences of even the smallest of wrong choices.

I work closely with the other parts of Fred’s mind. Memory and I are good friends and work together well. By recalling what has happened before, whether good or bad, Memory helps us make wise choices. I even like Emotion, though I do have trouble with him sometime. He helps a lot when Fred is about to decide something that’s not good for him. He’ll call Ole Conscience and together they will often put the squeeze on Fred until he calls on me to decide not to do that.

I get mad at Old Conscience sometimes. He’s so cranky and he always thinks he’s right. But I have to admit that Fred would have been in trouble sometimes had Ole Conscience not shown up when he did, riding in like the cavalry to crush the enemy so that Fred could get in touch with me to decide to come back to God. I get tired of him lurking in the shadows, watching all the time. But I guess that’s why God gave us to Fred, so he’d be good. And Ole Conscience sure likes for Fred to be good. He brags and brags on him when he’s good.

Fred and I are going somewhere. Heaven. That’s what life’s all about. And on this journey toward heaven there are a host of choices that must be made. Some choices don’t seem to amount to much at the time, but they’re still important. Others are bigger and great care is called for before they can be made.

The greatest choice Fred has ever made was to become a Christian. I am mighty glad to say I helped. When the information about Jesus Christ being the Son of God was presented, I helped him to choose to keep it close and consider it carefully (John 20:30-31). He decided that he believed (Romans 10:10). When old Conscience hurt him so badly he decided to change his mind with regard to sin, I was there to help him repent (2 Corinthians 7:10; Acts 2:38). When he made the good confession, I helped him choose to say it (Acts 8:37). And when he was baptized, I helped him overcome his timidity and bashfulness and go right up and do it (Acts 22:16; Mark 16:16). I’ve never felt better than when Fred obeyed the gospel (Acts 3:19).

But we’re now working on the hardest part – living right. It’s a constant battle for us – me and Fred. But Fred has decided that it’s worth it and consequently he is working real hard at it. Oh, he still makes some wrong decisions now and then, but I help him repent and turn back to God when he does (1 John 1:9). And it seems to me he has to do it less and less these days.

And Ole Conscience really likes that, because it gives him lots of time off.