Rules today are attached to a stigma of joylessness. We think of laws and regulations and most of the time we associate them to a limitation. Generally a lot of people don't like rules. We'd rather have freedom from rules.
It's no different with God-given laws. Too often we view them as detrimental to our satisfaction and welfare. We would rather have things our way. We're all guilty of this.
But the truth remains that no matter how terribly poor our affinity to God's ways is, we know that His ways are always best and that they don't have to be a burden.
In Jeremiah 15:16, the prophet Jeremiah says this about God's words: "Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts."
When God says something and commands something, it's always for our good. While our natural tendency is to veer away from it, we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us back into God's ways and into His righteousness.
God's Laws Show Us the Character of God
One of the main purposes of the law is to show us the holy and beautifully spotless character of God. He is perfect in every way; He has no imperfection. The laws are a delight because they represent for us on earth the majesty and beauty of the righteous and just God we serve.
To know God's laws is to know more of Christ, and to know Christ more will naturally draw us to be more like Him. Again, we won't always get it right, but the goal is to progress in God's relationship and not remain stagnant. God's laws help us do that.
Grace Upholds the Law
And yes, we are no longer saved by adherence to the law that's true. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."
But God's grace in no way discredits the law or makes it any uglier. In fact, God's grace only magnifies the beauty of God's righteousness as it is imputed upon us at no cost to ourselves because Christ has paid the price in full.
Just as Jesus said, the law and prophets were never to be abolished and were so precious that Jesus fulfilled them (Matthew 5:17). God's law is so beautiful that Jesus walked in it, fulfilled it on our behalf, and enables us through the Holy Spirit to walk in it. That's how beneficial the law is to us. It's not meant to be a burden, but to be a means of blessing to us.
