I agree. God could easily have made us automatons that worshipped Him incessantly, incapable of the choice to do otherwise. But I believe that God made us for His glory, that we would freely choose to love Him and worship Him. The free will to love God or not by its nature allows for evil to exist in the world. God wants us to overcome this evil, and He is willing to help us do so if we come to Him.
I see our relationship to God as not that different from a child’s relationship with a parent. A parent can demand that a child say that he loves the parent, but that is not true love. One of the best feelings there is is when a child comes to a parent and freely tells the parent that he loves him/her. The “art” that children make for their parents is of little intrinsic value, but we cherish it. We keep the dandelions our children bring to us as flowers because they are a sign of our children’s love for us.
Our so-called good deeds are, to God, not of any intrinsic value, but He values them when they done in His name.
At least that is my belief.
A question for you to contemplate: If there is “free will” now, as you define it, will there be the same “free will” in Heaven?