“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”   ~Revelation 14:12

God’s plan for us is that we live forever with Him. His plan for our life here on earth is that we sow seeds, that we use every opportunity to share the love of Christ with others. And . . . His love includes a book full of warnings for both this life as well as the next!

​“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it or take away from it.”   ~Deuteronomy 12:32

What’s the greatest feel-good feeling? To do good for others! Nothing will bring a greater emotional reward than to help someone. If you not only share the gospel of eternal life through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ but also give someone a better life in the here and now, wouldn’t you want to do that? If we truly love Him, we will obey Him and be careful to observe His commands.

​“Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.”   ~Deuteronomy 12:28

Following His commandments and teaching others to be obedient to God’s word is one of the greatest gifts you can give someone. God left us with every detailed bit of information that we will need to live the best possible life here on earth. He tells us through his laws what to do and what not to do to receive all of the blessings that obedience brings.

​“But because the Lord loves you…therefore know that He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments”   ~Deuteronomy 7:8-9

Why do we still have to keep God’s rules…?

You might say, I thought we weren’t under the law anymore? Yes, in part, the “sacrificial laws” were done away with when Jesus was nailed to the cross—we are no longer under the law for salvation, but the law still exists for everyone! In other words, we aren’t required to kill a lamb as a sacrifice every time we sin because Jesus, the Lamb of God, died once for all. But if we truly accept what He did at the cross for us, we will do our very best to obey Him in every way, plus in doing so, we will have a much better life!

We don’t keep His Commandments to be saved,

​we keep them because we are saved!

But, you might reply, didn’t Jesus get rid of the Commandments? We know that Jesus didn’t do away with the Commandments because He repeats that we should keep them throughout the New Testament.

​“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”    ~John 14:15

So, is it still God’s will that we keep the commandments and laws? Of course, the law of God is clearly the will of God. Why else would He leave us with a book filled with His rules? Why else would He write them in stone with His own finger if they were temporary? Clearly He wants to help us, to teach us what is good for us as well as what is harmful.

We need to understand that all of God’s rules are for our own good. God invented science; science didn’t create God. The science of germs and toxins still exist in this life. If we ingest unclean toxic foods or touch unclean bacteria-laden things, we will get sick! This isn’t God being mean to us; it’s a simple case of cause and effect. God warns us throughout the Bible—time and time again He tells us what the result of disobeying Him will be—in the here and now as well as in the forever!

"My son, give attention to My words; incline your ear to My sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh."   ~Psalm 37:33

I use to think that all these rules were just to trip us up, but I’ve discovered that they are simply warnings. If you were driving and saw a sign that said, bridge is out, would you just keep going or would you heed the warning and turn around? We need to see God as our advocate rather than nothing more than a boss! He loves us, so much that He gave us a book of do's and don’ts so we can live a longer, healthier and happier existence. God wants us to have a long and healthy life.

​“Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many.”   ~Proverbs 4:10

Let’s take God’s dietary laws for example. Why did God tell us not to eat certain animals, referring to them as unclean? God made certain creatures as environmental filters. He called them unclean because they are full of toxins, and if we eat them, we will ingest these toxins. He wants us to be healthy rather than sick all the time.

​“One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.”   ~Proverbs 28:9

The above verse seems rather harsh! But God doesn’t candy-coat His words of warning to us. He loves us so much that He tells us in no uncertain terms what will be the results of disobeying Him. Yes, we can confess our disobedience to Him and be forgiven, this is absolutely true. But does that mean we should continue in our disobedience? Certainly not, because if we do, we will get the same consequences over and over. 

​"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”   ~Roman 6:1-2

Jesus commands us to repent. God gives us the ability to resist sin and turn from our disobedient nature. The very moment we accept Jesus as our Savior we become empowered through the indwelling Holy Spirit of God Almighty! Almighty, this means He is all-powerful and quite able to empower us with the ability to repent (turn from) and resist the temptations of the devil to rebel against God’s word. If this weren’t true, why would Jesus have repeatedly said, go and sin no more every time He healed someone?

​“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”   ~Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

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