BENEFITS OF KEEPING COMMANDMENTS
There is more to Jesus’ words than meets the eye. We previously mentioned some of the benefits of keeping the commandments. This is such a critical choice that I want to elaborate. Consider some statements from wise King David:
KNOWLEDGE OF SIN
Thy word have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee (Psalm 119: 11).
INSIGHT AND UNDERSTANDING
I have more insight than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed thy precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Thy word (Psalm 119:99-100).
PEACE AND STABILITY
Those who love Thy law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble (Psalm 119:165).
The prophet Isaiah and the Book of Joshua add more insights:
WELL-BEING AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your well-being would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea (lsaiah 48:18).
PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL
This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success (Joshua 1:8).
Searching out all those commandments will lead you into a lifetime study of the Bible. Also, it will guide you into conduct pleasing to God and will contribute to your own self-respect.
That’s worth a lifetime of study for, why not commit yourself to a lifetime of doing what is right? Just as people who are physically fit spend a lifetime seeking out fitness principles and following them, so contented people learn the principles that will enable them to build self-respect…to love themselves.
BROAD BIBLICAL GUIDELINES
The Bible furnishes us with some broad guidelines to help us make choices, but what it says puts the responsibility for our daily actions squarely on our own shoulders:
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable… I will not be mastered by anything (1 Corinthians 6:12).
All things are lawful, but not all things edify (1 Corinthians 10:23).
… to one who knows the right thing…and does not do it… it is sin (James 4:17).
The work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever (Isaiah 32:17).
Every day of your life you make choices about what you will or will not do. In part, the joy of participating in athletics is the challenge of making quick, spontaneous decisions within the rules and boundaries of the game.
Likewise, the pleasure and fascination of life is in making decision upon decision within the commands God gives us.
Continuous, ongoing study of God’s commandments with the intent to obey them is a most satisfying life style.
Consider this example of how one man saw his self-respect grow by the choices he made.