See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, and death and disaster. What I am commanding you today is to love the LORD your God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments …

— Deuteronomy 30:15-16

God has set before us the “maker’s manual.” If you obey the commandments, you will do well. If you don’t, you will destroy yourself. The commandments are basically simple, but they are not easy. If we seek to live a godly life, we can only do this by His power and by His grace.

Human success or failure in this life is largely dependent upon the requisite yielding of ourselves in obedience to the commandments of God. It is not some great mystery. It is simply doing what God told us to do. Apparently, there are many people in this nation and the world who are mostly ignoring those commandments or outright disobeying them. That, of course, is to their own hurt and detriment.

We do not keep the law in order that we might be saved or be acceptable to God; but having been transformed by Christ, having been forgiven and redeemed by Jesus Christ, having been made new creatures by His grace and His mercy, we now desire to live by His Commandments and His law. God gives us a new heart, a heart that delights in our God and a heart that desires to live by His statutes.

Question to ponder:
We are told to keep God’s commandments in word, thought, and deed. Which one is hardest for you?