Any parent looking out for their child’s best interest sets boundaries. In most homes, there are house rules regarding particular expectations. It’s typical for children (especially teens) to push back on the boundaries and often believe the rules are too strict. There might be outward submission, but there can easily be a lack of inward submission.
With maturity, a child should begin to learn that obedience includes both. None of us have made it through childhood by always honoring our parents. Our obedience and the depth of gratitiude in our relationship with God are significant determiners in how we live.
The Purpose of the Law
God is like a parent in that He gives laws and does it for the benefit of His children. Rather than see the law as something to avoid, we should thank God for providing it so we might see how impossible it is to keep it. Since no one can control the Law, what is its purpose? The purpose is to know God’s holy nature and will and our hearts’ sinful nature and disobedience. And thus, our need for a Savior. The Law also teaches and encourages us to live a life worthy of our Savior.
For by works of the Law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the Law comes knowledge of sin. – Rom 3:20
Gratitude for the Law
As a child of God, what does your obedience and submission to God say about your understanding of God’s love for you? Scripture notes a direct correlation between obedience and love (John 14:15; 1 John 3:16, 17, 22, 23). Jesus fulfilled the Law to fulfill the righteous demands of the Law.
When we know who God is, and we know that we don’t measure up to his character when we know who we are, and we know the sinful inclinations of our hearts, it presses us to Jesus. We know we need a Savior, and the Savior has fulfilled that law. He set an example for those who would believe, enabling our obedience. We should regularly thank God for his love and the law.
The Law and the Heart
The Law is both a blessing and a curse. The absolute righteousness of God’s Law gives us the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). When Jesus goes through Law in the sermon on the mount, he constantly takes it to heart level. It can be easy to do the right thing but not have the right motive, which is why God’s good law has been given.
Israel was desperate for redemption, and so are we (Rom. 3:23). What commands of God do you urgently need to remember? Like the Israelites, we are all prone to forget. Moses urged the people to the highest level of obedience. What motivates your obedience? The basis for our obedience to God should not be legalism but love for God.
Obedience and Heart Attitude
Willpower alone cannot produce the heart obedience that pleases God. When we think about obedience, many immediately think, “Oh, do I have to? Do I have to do good work? Do I have to obey?” That wasn’t Jesus’s attitude toward God’s commands and will. He frequently told his disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34).
The law of God shows us what a life of peace and blessedness is like. It shows us what it’s like to live a life worthy of the gospel once we’ve trusted Jesus Christ.
An unthankful and complaining spirit is an abiding sin against God and a cause of almost continual unhappiness. Yet, how familiar such a spirit is. How prone we seem to be to forget the good that life knows, and remember and brood over its evil – to forget its joys, and think only of its sorrows – to forget thankfulness, and remember only to complain. – John Broadus
Application
Are you pushing back on boundaries, or do you have a thankful spirit, a humble spirit that walks in the ways of the Lord? Will you complain today, or will you bask in the goodness of a God who gives us boundaries so we might look to Him?
This post is adapted from my personal Bible study notes.
Debbie Swindell 