March 1
March 1
God’s commands are wisdom-drenched gifts of divine love. It would be foolish to resist their protecting and directing beauty.
God did not give his law as a means of gaining his acceptance; his standard is too lofty, too holy. No, God’s law was a gift to those he had already chosen to love, so that they would know how to live and, in following his commands, thrive. That’s why the psalmist can exult, “Oh how I love your law!” (Ps. 119:97). The words that follow are my celebration of the gift of God’s commands and the grace that empowers us to love and keep them.
God’s law is
perfect,
holy,
righteous,
good.
It is God’s
gracious,
loving,
wise,
tender welcome
to the good life,
where sinful impulses
are restrained,
where we are protected
from our wandering hearts,
where we learn to live
as our Creator designed us to live.
God’s protective boundaries,
the fences of his law,
are an expression of his love.
These laws have been given
not to earn his love,
but as a gift of grace
to those he has chosen
to love.
In an ever-changing
world—
valleys deep,
mountains high,
woods dark,
enemies abounding,
temptations whispering—
there is security
in God’s unchanging law.
There simply is nothing to add
to his holy and righteous
commands.
Who would’ve thought,
who could’ve ever conceived,
who had the wisdom to design
such a plan,
such purpose,
such a moral structure
for human
help,
hope,
thriving?
It’s an act of
arrogance,
confusion,
rebellion,
foolishness
to subtract things
from God’s holy and loving
moral plan for us.
So settle in,
believe that God
always knows what is best,
and pray for grace
to surrender your
thoughts,
desires,
choices,
words,
actions,
to him.