Psalm 119:4
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.

It can’t be just a casual commitment.  Following God demands diligence and a wholeheartedness because there are so many ways we can be led astray.  We have so much working against us—our own flesh, Satan and his followers, worldliness all around us—that anything less than a focused pursuit of God and obedience to Him will leave us compromising or lukewarm or unfruitful or maybe even hindering His cause and His purposes.  We can’t remain neutral about the things that God says.  We either reject them or seek to know them and abide by them.

We need to be dedicated to diligence in our walk with the Lord.  It’s not just a stroll, but a soldier’s march.  It’s not a sprint, but a marathon.  It’s not wandering aimlessly, but going with a purpose.  So there is effort and energy involved.  There is knowledge and wisdom that must be gained.  There must be a desire that runs deep to endure all the way, to conform ourselves to Christ’s image, to be submissive, surrendered servants.  There is preparation involved, and we must have proper attitudes, and it must be a daily, even moment-by-moment dedication.

And isn’t it enough to spur us on to actually follow through in obedience simply because God commanded us to?  Do we really need any other reason to do something than that God wants us to?  Will we submit to His ultimate authority out of love for Him?  The character and the heart of the one who makes these commands should make it easy for us to want to follow them.  A Master who showers His servants with such love and grace is certainly worthy of our obedience.  A Lord who reigns with a heart of mercy can certainly be trusted to lead us in the right way.

So let us be disciplined in doing the things that God has asked us to and that we know He wants us to do, and then let us also refrain from doing those things He commands us not to.  Let’s take it seriously and be diligent about it.  May we be eager to obey and willing to follow God in all of the ways He would lead us.  And then we also reap the blessings of a life lived not for ourselves, but for Him.