Perfect

Passage: Psalm 19

The Catechism’s treatment of the Ten Commandments ends with a meditation on the relationship between Christians and God’s Law. The authors of the Catechism as the question that should be on all our lips:
No one in this life can obey the Ten Commandments perfectly: why then does God want them preached so pointedly?
Seriously. Why have we gone to such great lengths to study the Ten Commandments if we’re only going to fail at them anyway?
The Catechism gives two answers; I’d add a third. First, we turn and return to the Ten Commandments because they remind us of our deep need for Jesus Christ. We need to be reminded of God’s standard and our utter inability to meet it. So doing we acknowledge that we are the recipients of God’s love only by God’s great mercy. Second, we pursue God’s Law because we sincerely desire to live according to God’s will. We believe that God’s Spirit is continually restoring God’s image in us. As we become more and more the people God created us to be, we will be naturally inclined to live according to God’s good order.

Finally, we embrace God’s Law because we love God. The closer we are to God the more we delight in who God is and what God wants. This desire for the things of God is beautifully expressed by David, the “man after God’s own heart”, in Psalm 19. David says this about God’s Law:
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the LORD are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

When you love someone, you long to know their heart. God shows us his heart for the world and its inhabitants in the rules he gives his people. The more you love God, the more his rules make sense, and the more perfectly you want to live them.