Dave Chanski
One of the reasons that God’s commands have fallen into disfavor, even among those who call themselves Christ’s disciples, is that such folks think of the word commandment as synonymous with harshness, severity, and oppression.
What Christians must remember, however, is that the commandments are God’s commandments. It is the Lord who is our Master. Our master is not Pharaoh, who made the Israelites produce bricks without providing them with straw. God’s commands are the commands of a loving Father. This is why Jesus could say, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:30).” And this is why he could recommend that we take the same attitude toward His Father’s law: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:10-11).
Furthermore, our master is not Satan. The differences between Satan’s lordship and God’s are that 1) Satan has no commands for us to keep–he would rather we simply do as we wish; and 2) his service really is harsh–it leads to death (Romans 6:15-23; 8:12-13)! No, our Master is God, our heavenly Father. And because He is wise (He knows what’s good for us) and loving (He does what’s best for us), He gives us good and wise commands. Every Christian is a slave, then! The key is that he is Christ’s slave–not Pharaoh’s, not Satan’s, and not his own! He is God’s slave, and he boasts about it (cf. Romans 1:1; James 1:1; Jude 1:1, etc.).
Because every true Christian is God’s slave, and because God’s law is good, and because God causes his children to love his commands, the Christian has the relationship to God that is pictured in Exodus 21. There, the servant has the opportunity to go free, but instead he says, “I love my master,… I will not go out free.” Then it says, “his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever” (Exodus 21:5-6). May the Lord impart to us all such love for Him and His service.