Commemorating the boldness of our forefathers in declaring independence from Great Britain each July 4 causes me to reflect on the roles of freedom and agency in God’s plan.

The words of Virginia’s own Patrick Henry, uttered at the Second Virginia Convention in Richmond in 1775 — “Give me liberty or give me death!” — seem to dovetail perfectly with the words of Paul to the Corinthians: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

In individual and personal ways, God calls on each of us to choose His path, promising that remaining lukewarm will only result in being spit out (Revelation 3:16). We are free to choose, but we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.

Paul taught: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). We each have our agency, but we are also each accountable for our actions.

A recent novel, “The Immortalists” by Chloe Benjamin, raises age-old questions of agency and destiny with the story of four children who consult a fortuneteller one fateful day, then spend the rest of their lives seeking to avoid the fate decreed.

After a lifetime of feeling that choice and God could not coexist, one of the brothers, Daniel, revised his idea of God: “He imagined a new God, one who nudged him when he was going the wrong way but never strong-armed him, one who advised but did not insist — one who guided him, like a father. A Father.”

God will not force any of His children (though He may nudge us from time to time.) Instead, a loving Heavenly Father has given us the gift of agency. A major purpose of our life is to demonstrate which side we will choose.

The gospel path is sometimes called the straight and narrow way. To some, Christian commitment to following the teachings and example of Jesus Christ may seem confining or restrictive.

But submitting to God’s will instead expands our abilities and opportunities, as Sharon G. Larsen taught: “When we use our agency to wholly and freely turn ourselves over to God, we will rise as His — free and unburdened.”

As we choose the right, exercising our God-given agency, may we each be planted firmly on the gospel path: “Choose the right! There is peace in righteous doing. Choose the right! There’s safety for the soul. Choose the right in all labors you’re pursuing; Let God and heaven be your goal.”

BRENT ROBERTS is the Branch Presidency First Counselor in the Sandy River Branch, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and also Dean of Greenwood Library at Longwood University. He can be reached at brentsroberts@hotmail.com.