Deuteronomy 27:1. "Now Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day."

There are three instances of the word "command" in this short sentence. There is no questioning it - God's laws are commandments. We are commanded, by our Creator, the source of everything in the universe, the only true power that exists, to obey His commandments. We can say we have a "choice" to follow them or not, because we do have free will, but that choice is so blindingly obvious once we see past the wiles of the devil. It is the choice between life and death; between eternal happiness or eternal suffering.

God sometimes seems harsh, especially in the Old Testament, "commanding" this, and punishing that, but it is only because He loves us so very much. He does not want us to choose death! He is like a parent commanding a small child not to touch the hot stove. He knows we will suffer greatly if we do; He knows we often don't understand why we can't touch the hot stove; and He knows the devil is whispering in our ears that touching the hot stove is actually the best thing ever, God is just being mean by not letting us do it. So He commands us not to, He sends prophets and gives us priests to remind us not to, and He lets us suffer the consequences when we do, only so that we will learn to trust Him in the future.

When we disobey His commandments, when we touch the hot stove, and run back to him for comfort, He gathers us up, binds our wounds, heals us, and reminds us again how much He loves us.