“You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever.” (Psalm 16:11 NLT)
These powerful words of David are reminders of what we can cling to in these days of uncertainty. However, we too often read over words like these in the Bible because they have a ring of familiarity, as a result, we can tend to dismiss them. For example, when we read David’s words: “the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with You forever” our mind can quickly go to thoughts of heaven, but to do so is to miss a major point.
The joy of the Lord’s presence doesn’t begin when we get to heaven, it begins the moment we open our heart and mind to Him and invite the powerful presence of His Holy Spirit to take up residence in our life. When our life is owned and governed by the Spirit, God’s Commandments aren’t cumbersome, overbearing, or debilitating, but joyful. We thrive in the context of our obedience to His directives and find true joy in pleasing Him.
Until we learn to know, love, and trust the Lord Jesus, as David did, those words don’t sound liberating, but restrictive; however, when we understand the Author and Creator of our life is the One who is liberating us to become all He created us to become, it takes on a whole new meaning. Matt Chandler understood this when he wrote: “The commands of God are given not to rob me of joy, but lead me into fullness of joy.”
Think of it like this: let’s say a loving father wants to teach his young son how to throw a baseball properly. His son comes to him and says: “Daddy, I stink at baseball. I’ll never learn how to play like you.” To which his father responds: “Son, your goal shouldn’t be to be as good as me, but to be the best the Lord has made you to be. You may one day be far better than me, because I see strong evidence that you have a powerful arm and can one day be a great pitcher, but you just have to be patient with yourself and let me teach you how to properly throw so you don’t hurt your arm.”
The Lord has gifted each of us and empowers us by His Spirit to nurture those gifts to be used to His glory. Just as there are “commandments” in Baseball or in any other sport, there are rules, regulations, and guidelines within Scripture that help to keep us in the boundaries of godly living. They aren’t intended to restrict us or hold us back, but from hurting ourselves or disqualifying ourselves from carrying out God’s holy purposes for our life.
Having lived long enough to see very clearly in my own life the cost of disobedience to the clear commands of God, my greatest regrets aren’t “breaking the rules,” but breaking the heart of my Father. Commandments at their core aren’t about rules, they’re about love. The Lord sets loving boundaries in which He’s asked us to live, not to keep us from having fun or enjoying life, but to keep us from hurting ourselves.
It’s the same reason He asked Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. His goal wasn’t to restrict them, but to liberate them to enjoy the perfect environment in which He’d placed them. Their disobedience got them expelled, not God’s restrictive rules. His love always liberates us to be all we’re meant to be, but our disobedience to His clear commands blocks our progress and prevents us from being all He desires us to be. That’s why I no longer desire to have a will of my own, but to always and only do that which is pleasing to my heavenly Father.
My Father’s Commandments are my lifeline to the liberation He’s always intended for me – for US – in Christ alone by faith alone.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 