Theists: what does your god want for you?

[Neo-Scholastic]

...But then why should humans have so much capacity for judgment if its only purpose (as you see it) is to permit them to choose to follow a god's commands? Why not just hard-wire it into our nature as with every other animal? What purpose does it serve?

That's how we partake of God's nature. We are in His image not because we are hairless bipeds, but rather because we have been granted the discretion to act according to our choices, i.e. free will. God Himself freely creates. Not because He must, since He is self-sufficient and needs nothing, but because He desires to create. God has free will so if we are to be in "His image" we must have the liberty to manifest our loves, too.