His commandments are not grievous

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:3

God's commandments are not grievous. They are not burdensome. It is the lie of Satan, one of his chief deceits, that holiness and obedience are a yoke too hard to be borne. That we will be happier if we sin. That godliness is not worth it. As a Puritan once put it, Satan presents the bait but hides the hook. One of the ways he hides the hook is by distracting us from the horrible consequences of sin and as well as the benefits of righteousness. He turns reality on its head by telling us that what is good for us is bad for us and what is bad for us is good for us.

How do we throw away the bait so that we see the hook? Well, it is to see that God is indeed worthy of our love. If we love him, we will not think his commandments are burdensome. It is the love of God that makes obedience to him a thing of delight. On the other hand, it is part of the essence of sin that it makes a man hostile to God, and at enmity with him. In fact, those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:7).

Those who are born again will love God; they have God's love embedded in their hearts. But that does not mean that we can't sometimes lose sight of the worth and excellence of God. To avoid that end, let us bathe our minds in his word in which he presents himself to us accurately and most fully. Let us perceive him, not in words painted by his enemies, but by his own words. Let us hear him speak to us in the pages of Scripture. As we do so, with our eyes and hearts enlightened by the Holy Spirit, we will surely see that God is worthy of our love, and that his commandments are not grievous.