I am enjoying a different world, and tomorrow will travel to a new place. We will go over an imaginary boundary. That boundary will tell us we are now in Germany. We have discovered boundaries here that have been very carefully planned, designed and developed. They are called canals, or dikes. Because Amsterdam, well most of Holland, is under sea level, there has to be a plan to keep the sea from the land. It has been very well thought out and implemented. If only the boundaries in all of life were that thought out.
Boundaries give us limits. It helps us define what is our area. There are boundaries everywhere. The tram lines here have boundaries. When you reach the end of the boundary, you have to get off and take a different tram. We have lot lines, streets, state lines, the continental divide, and when we were kids there was an imaginary line in the back of the green station wagon that we did not cross… that was the line.
In the Bible there were lines. Psalms 104 God set boundaries for the land and the sea. Ezekiel he divides us the land and sets boundaries so each tribe knew what land was theirs. Exodus 19 , God posted a boundary around the mountain.
We all seem to struggle with boundaries, as there are books written on helping set limits. How do we not allow people to come inside our protected places? Where are our limits? How do we determine how close is too close? When do we say, no you don’t step on my shoes? We need to have boundaries around our heart to protect us. We need to respect the boundaries placed by others. We need not be a bull in a china shop. When we do what we want regardless of where we are, we are weed whipping. If you have never weed whipped you won’t understand. You don’t weed whip without getting stuff all over you. Weed shipping doesn’t respect boundaries. Grass, weeds, or whatever you are whipping flies everywhere. It doesn’t care that you have clean pants or shoes on; if you weed whip you will have crud everywhere. It has no respect or of boundaries.
There are people like that. They do not respect other people’s boundaries. They determine what’s best for others and don’t care if you have other ideas set in place where you have drawn your boundary line. We call those people, well we call them lots of names, but we call them disrespectful, arrogant and dictators. When we don’t respect boundaries, we walk through on people’s hearts. When we don’t respect Gods boundaries we sin. Boundaries help us keep an eye on where we should and should not be. They help us stay in line, just as a queue helps us stay in the boundaries, in our lives lived with people in our community. Stand in queue. Stand in line. Live so that other people see you loving them by respecting the boundaries they have established. And look to be sure that you are living within the boundaries God has set. And to know boundaries, you need to read the map. You need to know the rules. You need to see the big picture. To live, one needs to read the Word, to know what Gods boundaries are and to live by them.
Think about that when you see a boundary, or someones broken heart. How will I live to respect boundaries and other people’s hearts? And how will I place the right kind of boundaries around my life to protect my integrity and build my faith?
Special Touch Ministry 