Words of life or death?

All Gods commandments are given so we might find, expand and preserve life. God calling us to obey Him is an invitation to advance, grow, and multiply life i.e. God - through His commandments - is calling us to flourish not: 

Decline — gradually becoming weaker or less successful 

Wither — shriveling, fading, or losing vitality (often used for plants, success, or energy) 

Fail — not succeeding or collapsing 

¹Struggle  — having great difficulty or barely managing 

Languish — losing strength, growing weak, or remaining neglected 

Deteriorate — becoming progressively worse 

Stagnate — showing no growth or development; staying stuck 

Wane — decreasing in strength, power, or prosperity 

Flounder — struggling clumsily or failing to make progress 

Perish — dying, decaying, or coming to an end 

When we trust and obey God, it often looks and feels like death when in reality it is the path to life. 

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Cor 12:10 

When I am weak in my natural strength I am strong in the strength God gives me.

Christ told us if we wish to find our life, we must lose it. If we are to live as He designed us to, we must die...i.e. die to seeking life on our own terms; outside of or apart from God. 

The fact that we bristle so much at God's commandments exposes/reveals how much we distrust him and are in rebellion to Him. When we trust and love God, we gladly embrace His direction (commandments) not avoid them. 

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." - 1 John 5:3

It is our rebellion Christ came and bore the consequences of, with all it's harm and destruction we see all around us. When we trust the work that Christ did on our behalf we are no longer in Adam, who rebelled, but in Christ who obeyed.

For a further discussion ongoing from Adam to Christ click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Struggle was the natural consequence of our rebellion and disconnection from God, the source of life, love, and all things.

After we turned away from the Creator (Source), nothing worked properly as designed and intended.