Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 6:22

One of the hardest things for me about reading the first few books of the Old Testament was the seemingly tedious passages that contained so much detail. It isn't so bad in Genesis, but once you get to the latter part of Exodus and then follow that with the books of Leviticus and Numbers, a person can become overwhelmed by all of the details. In Genesis chapter six, it is kind of interesting, with all of the dimensions and descriptions of the ark, but when we get to the next three books and see all of the details of the tabernacle, the instruments of worship, the ark of the covenant, and even the minutia of the clothing that the priests were to wear, it can tend to be a bit too much.

So why did God include all of this?

The verse above gives part if the reason, as do the last two chapters of Exodus where the phrase, "just as the LORD commanded" is repeated more than ten times. When we really dig into the Word of God, we find that one of the things that God was pleased with was when his servants obeyed Him to the letter. We observe over and over how God blessed His creation whenever they were careful to obey everything that He commanded. We also see, over and over, how God looked with displeasure on His people whenever they tried to cut corners in their obedience. And we can understand why, at least in some instances. For example, we know that a ship has to be constructed just right if it is going to be seaworthy, so we can appreciate the effort that Noah put in to making sure that each of God's instructions were carried out to the letter.

But I have noticed in modern times that the idea of "the letter of the law" causes most men to bristle. After all, isn't it the "spirit of the law" that is most important? Of course the answer is that the intent of the heart of the servant is more important than the mindless carrying out of the letter of the law. Jesus made this very plain when He condemned the Pharisees for giving a tenth of their garden spices, while neglecting the more important areas such as faithfulness. However, it should be noted that He also said that they should have done the latter without leaving the former undone. 

In other words, both are important! It cannot be denied (nor should it be) that the heart of the servant is more important than his actions. The reason should be just as plain, for people can mindlessly go about obedience to the physical parts of God's commands without giving a single thought as to why they should be doing so in the first place. In other words, you can have compliance without love.

The thing we so often miss is that you cannot have love without compliance. 

This understanding makes all of the difference. It is true that we can have a type of love without obedience, but that is not the level of love that God wants. The moment we begin to put our preferences over God's commands is the point where we cross the line. We might argue with this, but when we read the 14th chapter of John, we see that it is true. Over and over in this brief passage, Jesus tells His disciples that if they love Him they will keep His commands. He further goes on to reveal in John 14:24 that the one who does not love Him is the one who will not obey.

So we now have the answer to our question, "Just how close do we have to obey God?" The answer has always been, "Just how much do you love Him?" I have come to view the detailed instructions of the Old Testament in a much different light than when I was younger. I have learned that the details are there (at least in part) to show us how careful God's servant must be in obeying everything just as God commanded. And the one who truly loves God obeys to the letter, not because they think that they will earn God's reward for doing so, but because they love Him.

And, if we truly love God, why would we even think of doing anything less?