“There are so many laws; do this, don’t do that.” “Everyone is telling me what to do and I hate it.” “I just want to be free from all these rules and regulations.” “Give me a break, all I want is some freedom.” I have heard many statements like this. People are longing for freedom from rules, they just want to be free to do whatever they want to do. In these conversations it seems like the Bible is restrictive or Victorian in nature, always limiting people from “enjoying life”. However this is not God’s perspective. In Deut. 10:12-13, God states His intentions for His commands, “what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good.”
The commands of God are not to keep us from life but for “our good” that we might have life. Instead of thinking that God is trying to keep us from what appears to be life giving, we need to understand that God is trying to keep us from what He knows to be life robbing. When we see how God is trying to provide what is good for us then we can agree with the apostle John who said in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” These commands are not burdensome because we understand how He loves us and His ways bring life.
Lord, we often question Your ways and Your commands because we look through our eyes, forgive us. Help us to trust that You know best and that Your commands have our best interests at stake. Give us the strength to obey You with a willing heart.
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