Law-abiding

When did you last read through a rulebook just for the fun of it? And don’t you, like pretty well everyone I know, skip the ‘terms and conditions’ stuff when you order something on the internet? Most of it will be irrelevant anyhow, won’t it? I think there’s something in most of us that rebels against being told what to do. And, again, most of us don’t have much love for rules because we find them so restrictive. Here I am, driving along an almost empty motorway. Why does the law require me to keep below 70mph?

And yet, David says that he ‘finds delight’ in God’s commands. The word for this can also mean ‘fondle’ – like a small child with a favourite teddy-bear! Why does he find such pleasure in God’s commands? Because, as he says, he loves them.

As I’ve been thinking about this, I’ve been seeing more clearly than ever that God’s commands are 100% designed for our good. As we were growing up, our parents probably insisted on certain rules that, as little children, we didn’t like. ‘Don’t run out into the road!’ ‘But there’s nothing coming!’ There were two things that we didn’t understand: that we needed to develop a habit that was good for our safety, and that we couldn’t see round corners.

There could have been another reason: if we loved our parents, we’d want to please them. Obeying them pleased them. If we love God, we’ll want to please Him in the same way.

God’s rules are designed for our safety. We might break one of his commands and get away with it. But we are only really safe if we make a habit of keeping them. We never know when something might ‘come round the corner’.

God’s rules aren’t just there to keep us safe. Obeying them keeps our relationship with Him vibrant and alive. Breaking them always puts something between us and Him, spoiling the relationship. And that means that the warning of danger from Him who can ‘see round corners’ – that prompting of His Spirit – might go unheard. If we want to ‘find delight’ in Him, then we need to find as much delight in keeping His rules. If we love the lawgiver, then of course, we’ll love and take delight in what He requires us to do.