Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. Happy are those who keep God's decrees, who seek God with their whole heart... O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! (Psalm 119:1-2,5)
How do people know that I am a disciple of Christ, that I believe in God? To follow God's ways, to live according to God's decrees is the way that I show that I am a child of God.
God's Commandments aren't a matter of ownership and legalism, although we often make them legalistic - pray and obey! God's Commandments express who God is: fair, merciful, just. Jesus' summary of the Ten Commandments with the Law of Love shows us that all of God's ways are rooted in love. God doesn't want us to obey God's laws in order to keep us under control. God wants us to follow God's ways because God wants us to be like God, loving and holy.
Too often, we make God's Commandments a legalistic formula to follow: obey them and live, don't obey them and be punished. I know that I too often get caught up in the legalism of God's and the Church's decrees. We really don't have to follow God's Commandments; it's our choice. Whether we choose to live according to God's ways will determine the kind of person we are, a person of God or not a person of God. Personally, I want to be, to live as, a child of God.
O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!
