all - The Housekeeper Who Married the Master

I have been reading a neat commentary on Romans recently by Stuart Olyott. (Welwyn Series) In commenting on Romans 6-8 he gives this parallel:
The Law and Grace are like a housekeeper who worked for a man. She didn't do a very good job, and one day he posted a list of rules in the kitchen for her to follow. This had two effects. The first was that she realized she had been doing a poor job, and the second was to entice her to commit infractions she had never before considered (e.g. putting tea leaves down the sink). She also resented the rules. In time however, she married the master and became his wife. He took down the list of rules, but she, knowing them, delighted in still following them, because now she loved him.

It reminded me of when I was first married to David, and how I would delight to do things to please him, and now after ten years how I still try to do things to delight him - that same attitude should be present when I consider God's laws, not just a dry and legalistic carrying out of them, or worse, a disregard for them.

Sometimes we sin by ignoring the law, and sometimes by adhering in a loveless way. May God quicken our hearts through His Spirit so we may please Him by our devotion!