Commanded to Love God?

Hello everyone...

I have a few questions. We all know that God created us with free will because He wanted us to make our own decision to follow Him or not. As I have heard it described before, God did not want a world of robots that were programmed to worship Him, but rather, wanted independent people to worship him on their own volition.

With this being said, the first Commandment, and the most important according to Jesus, commands that you love God. Now, this seems strange to me because it essentially negates the fact that God allows us to make our own decisions and does not force man to comply with his demands.

Now, as we all know, opposition to the Commandments (the Law)is a transgression of the law and transgression of the law is the definition of sin. As stated numerous times throughout the Bible, the wages of sin is eternal death. Actually, more precisely stated- the wages of sin is suffering and then eternal death. So, ultimately, this means "Love me or die forever."

Some people seem to assert that it remains man's prerogative to choose what he may with his life. Is it really? Are we actually forced to follow God's will in an indirect way?

Let me give you an analogy: Someone pushes the barrel of a very large gun against the side of your your head and shouts, "I command that you ______ (fill in the blank) or I will physically torture you and then blow your head off! Theoretically, you have a choice. Realistically, you do not. Yes, you can choose to do whatever this person is demanding or you can choose suffering and certain death, but is that really a choice? Can it truly be deemed your "choice" when it has obviously been forced?

In this situation, the vast majority of people will do what is demanded, not because they necessarily desire to, but because they are being forced by this person due to the ultimatum with which they have been given. How has this decision been elicited? Have you truly reached this decision out of your free will? Is is clear that the primary motivation in choosing to follow the command would be to avert suffering and death, and thus, you are being forced. It is not your independent choice, but rather, the imposed notion of certain death that shapes your choice.
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