In order for an ox to plow, a yoke must first be placed upon it.
The ox does not voluntarily do anything good and useful out of love for its master.
Primarily, it works because it bears a yoke, because it fears its master and has no choice.
So too a person must engage in divine service as a result of accepting God’s kingship.
If he engages in Torah and mitzvot but not from a mindset of accepting the yoke, the holiness of the Torah and the mitzvot will not be upon him.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz