“There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt” (2 Chronicles 5:10, NASB).

The ark was God’s dwelling place among the Israelites. It was God’s presence. And what was in the ark? God’s ten commandments. God’s presence is with His commandments, or the commandments are with His presence. When the Lord writes His law upon our hearts, I’m wondering if it’s akin to Jesus pouring His love out into our hearts.

1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (NASB). The love of God, as in God’s love. God’s love is that we keep His commandments. What if we interpret that to mean our keeping the commandments is God’s love toward us? Love always goes toward something. What if we saw the law as God’s love gift to us? God wants us to be with Him. He wants to be with us, and we can only be with God in righteousness. We can’t be with Him without it. It’s the law that draws us to Christ. We need Christ because we need to fulfill the law and He’s the only One Who can do it. When we obey, we love. When we love, we obey. The law and God’s love are written on our hearts. What if we loved the law that Jesus fulfills to bring peace and justice to the earth through the glory of His name? As long as we are trying to argue that the law is done and gone, we’re missing God. We’re missing His presence. We’re missing His love.