There’s a little known statement in the Talmud that informs us that when the Torah says the words “and they encamped at the foot of (literally: under) the mountain,” it actually is referring to a dramatic underreported turn of events. At that point in time, we’re told, G-d raised the mountain above their heads and threatened them with death were they to not accept the Torah.
A far cry from the romantic narrative of ”we will do and we will listen” that we usually hear. Stop and think for a second about this. What is the rationale - why force the people? Especially when they had already said that they plan to accept the Torah.
The Talmudic sages found this so problematic that they say that the Jewish people didn’t freely accept the Torah until the time of the story of Purim (close to 1000 years later). The question must be asked, why would G-d choose to “force” them into submission?
Chassidic teachings interpret this experience in a more positive light; the G-dly revelation at Mount Sinai was so intense and overwhelming that they couldn't even consider any alternative. They were "forced" by G-d's love.
One possible way of looking at it is that the foundation of fulfilling the Mitzvot needs to be with certain acceptance, even when we don’t fully grasp the meaning. For example, we may usually agree that we need to honor our father and mother - but can that really mean in every situation?!
We might tend to consider mitzvot as good and beneficial, but at times we might be inclined to rationalize why not to fulfill a particular mitzvah. When G-d hoisted the mountain above the Jewish people as it were, He was communicating to us that even when we can’t fully understand a Mitzvah’s rationale, we must still fulfill it.
This is important, especially this week, when we read the 10 Commandments. When we approach the 10 Commandments as coming from G-d, we cannot rationalize and convince ourselves that there are exceptions.
Unfortunately, events of this past century prove that logic based morality doesn’t stop atrocities from happening (just look at the Holocaust). We need G-d based morality. G-d created the world and gave to us a set of instructions how to make our experience the most pleasant and rewarding.
When we properly remember the first of the 10 Commandments, we are in a position to properly fulfill the other 9, as well as all the other 603 mitzvot of the Torah.