When I met my friend Lanny (see my post "Death of a Friend"), I naively assumed that if I did everything right, then he would be "fixed". He would replace all of his bad choices with good choices and everything would be rainbows & unicorns in fairy tale land. That was my ignorance (and my arrogance). In reality, everyone has free will. They make their own choices, including the choice to ignore good advice and God's word. As my wife says, "in the end, people do what they want to do", sometimes with no thought of the consequences. It's hard to understand why some people continue down a path that is guaranteed to make them miserable, but Satan is a master of deceit and blinds them to the truth. Jesus said this about Satan: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) We know too that sometimes people choose to be blind, like the person who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day and won't listen when their doctor tells them to quit or die.
But really, no human being can fix another human being. We can help them but we can't fix them. Only God can do that through his son Jesus Christ, but only if men are willing to accept him as their savior. As God said to Israel through the prophet Isaiah: "I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices." (Isaiah 65:2) God's hand is always outstretched, but men can be stubborn, determined to follow their own way even when it leads to destruction. Jesus said: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14) The narrow gate is Jesus Christ: "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
