Boundaries can be good things. They can protect us. They can help define us – as to what we believe, what we will stand on, and what we will stand for. They can unite us in a common effort. 

Yes, like any good thing, boundaries can also be misused. Others can attempt to use boundaries to control us and abuse us. That’s why it’s important that we understand the reasons for the boundaries. We need to understand why they’ve been established. British writer and philosopher G. K Chesterton wrote, “Don’t remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.” There are some fences that need to be taken down – but there are many others that need to stand strong.

From the very beginning, our Creator established boundaries for us – boundaries for our good. But our prideful and sinful nature resists those boundaries. And it is easy for us to be convinced – just like Eve was – that surely that boundary doesn’t apply to me. It took little effort for the serpent to convince her that she knew better than her Creator – and it has taken him little effort ever since.

Even though God’s chosen people had witnessed His majesty and His power in the events leading up to their release from slavery, they still needed to be continually reminded that He was God and they were not.

Two months after they left Egypt, the people arrived at Mount Sinai. God was preparing to meet with His people there; and He was preparing His people to meet with Him. God’s instructions to His children were very specific – they most often are. If He was going to visit His people, they needed to make preparations for Him to do so – and they needed to respond within the boundaries He had set. They could not come just as they were – any way they wanted.(1)

Time and again, God had reminded them, as Dr. Henry Blackaby says, that “they could not stay where they were and go with God.” It is also true that we cannot stay as we are and go with God. Their entire journey was about the preparations and adjustments that God was leading them to make in their lives. He has called us in our journeys through life to make similar adjustments in order for us to be “vessels useful for the Master.”(2)

Does that mean we stay on the sidelines until all of that preparation is completed? No! Though God is continually at work preparing us for what He is preparing for us; by His grace He is working in us and through us right where we are. We must never let our sense of inability or our sense of inadequacy keep us from being immediately obedient to Him (as if there is any other kind than immediate obedience). 

It is in our weakness that He is made strong; in our inadequacy where we rely on Him more; and in our inability where we see Him do what only He can. But we must be mindful that God loves us too much to leave us as we are and where we are, and He is constantly molding and shaping us.

Paul clearly describes this process in his letter to the believers in Rome, “Give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind He will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is.“(3) That surrender and adjustment to God is an act of worship on our part, and His transformation of our lives is an act of love on His part.    

God’s preparation of our lives includes boundaries that He has established for our lives; boundaries that protect, not imprison. God intended to visit His people. They would hear His voice and they would witness His presence. But He was setting a boundary line beyond which they could not pass. They were not even allowed to touch the boundaries, for if they did, they would die. He knew that if the people saw His face they would die, so He established the boundary to define the “safe zone” so that they could experience His presence. As their loving Heavenly Father, God set a boundary for His children.         

God has set a boundary for us – a boundary within which we will experience the blessing of His presence. And He knows that the areas outside of those boundaries will lead to our death – either physically, or spiritually, or both. Therefore because of His love for us He has established those boundaries. 

I am reminded of when our children were toddlers. We had a pet dog, Ezekiel, that became a part of our family long before the birth of our children. Ezekiel did not appreciate the intrusion of these little people into the family, let alone his “dining area”. Violations into that area by either of the children were met with loud barking and growling. I can still see their “sweet, angelic faces” looking up at us as they willfully defied his warnings and tried to cross the boundary out of the safe zone. And they can still to this day show you the scar from the bite they received from Ezekiel for their efforts. 

The unfortunate reality is that we, like them, want to continually “test” the boundaries. We want to walk up to them and touch them, or see what happens when we take one step over them. We act as if God is a “cosmic killjoy” who just wants us to miss out on something good. Or perhaps, it’s just the temptation of forbidden fruit. Whatever our motive or our motivation, we step across that line, and whatever was waiting for us on the other side of that boundary sinks its teeth into us. And either it drags us further and further into the area that we shouldn’t have entered, to the point that we can no longer find our way back; or at the very least, we are scarred for life.          

Each of us has a testimony of how God by His grace has rescued us from the mire when we have crossed over His boundary into forbidden territory. But fellow travelers, let’s stop presuming on His grace. God has set His boundaries around our path as we journey through this wilderness of life. Heed those boundaries; they are boundaries He has put in place to protect us and set us apart for Himself!

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(1) Exodus 19:10-13 (NLT)

Then the LORD told Moses, "Go down and prepare the people for my visit. Purify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. Be sure they are ready on the third day, for I will come down upon Mount Sinai as all the people watch. Set boundary lines that the people may not pass. Warn them, 'Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Those who do will certainly die! Any people or animals that cross the boundary must be stoned to death or shot with arrows. They must not be touched by human hands.' The people must stay away from the mountain until they hear one long blast from the ram's horn. Then they must gather at the foot of the mountain." 

(2) 2 Timothy 2:21

(3) Romans 12:1-2 (NLT)

Adapted from The Journey Begins, Ch. 33

Photo by Clay LeConey on Unsplash