Proverbs 22:28, “Remove not the ancient
landmark which thy fathers have set.” Remove not is becoming more meaningful to
me. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve removed an ancient
landmark, a boundary
God has set. God gave them every access to the very
best but there was one line drawn,
one boundary made and the enemy worked to remove that. This
happened in a
natural way in my home state. There was a terrible flood,
the Mississippi river
overflowed its banks and all because of man’s fault, they
had changed the
boundaries of the river to gain more land, they had built
high banks and
thought that would take care of the problem. They went on
changing the boundary
to gain more for their personal advantage which led to
terrible losses, it had
an effect which no one ever imagined. The same thing happened last year in
Germany and the authorities have to
admit that we are at fault. They too changed the boundaries
of the Rhine river
years ago. Thinking to profit from it, they took the bends
out of the river so
now with the added pressure of the snow the water just
rushed down the river
with no bends to slow the water down, so many lives and
animals and property
taken to destruction. I cannot grasp the seriousness of this
in the spiritual
sense. The old law that Moses received from God laid out the
boundaries for the
children of Israel. Jesus made the boundaries much clearer in
Matthew 5. Thou halt heard in the
Old Testament but I say unto you, the old law dealt with the
action, setting the
boundary that would preserve people from doing wrong but
there was no power to
keep that law. Jesus spoke of various aspects of our lives.
The old law forbade
killing but Jesus warned against the anger that leads to the
killing. The old
law said not to commit adultery but Jesus spoke of no
looking that would lead
to the wrong action. I realise that if I do not control my
thoughts then I
cannot control my actions Jesus set clear borders. In the
world, there are
falling standards, lower morals, boundaries are blurred
because of a lack of the
fear of God. Jesus left clear boundaries how to live a life
that leaves no
question marks in anyone's mind what we are living for and
who we are serving. Nehemiah 4, the Jews were dwelling close
to the enemy who had a
discouraging effect or them. They felt the enemy was too
strong, no point in
going on. We will never get there and this is what happens
when we live too
close to the border, we will be influenced. The closer we
live to God, the
clearer we see the boundary and borders. In Europe, we see a
difference at the
border between Holland and Germany. The language there is
more like it is on
the other side, the architecture, everything merges and
seems to be the same
and we cannot hinder this from happening when we dwell too
close to the border.
Our own human nature can also set up borders that we think
are important. Peter asked Jesus how often he should
forgive his brother. 7 times, he
thought that would be a good borderline but Jesus showed him
there was to be no
boundary, 70 times 7. We also set borders to our love. Jesus
loved to the end
in spite of all that the disciples were. We could set limits
to our willingness
in our service to God, think that we have gone far enough,
we also limit the
power of God in our lives, we need to allow God to set the
borders in our
lives. Jeremiah 5:22, "Which have
placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual
decree." The
high waves may roar but they cannot pass over the bounds
that are set. Do we
have this confidence in God? God sets a boundary and will
not allow us to
suffer more than we are able to bear, He will make a way of
escape. God sets
the bounds for Jobs life, "Go ahead but don't touch his life."
There is a
boundary that we must set. God told Moses to set bounds
about the mount and
sanctify it, also no man shall come up with thee, neither
let any man be seen
throughout all the mount, neither let the flocks nor herds
feed before that
mount. The most precious thing we have today is
our relationship with God and we
are going to protect what is precious, thieves and robbers
prevail in the world
and are only after what is valuable. The enemy of our soul
is out to rob us of
the most precious thing, our link, and our relationship with
God. We need to be
serious about this set of bounds to that mount, to not let
anything hinder us
from fellowship with God. Abraham took his
servants a certain
distance but could not take them all the way. He saw the
mount and left the
servants behind, no one to hinder him from having fellowship
with God. Those
dearest to us can be the greatest hindrance let no man be
seen throughout the
mount. Jacob wrestled with the angel, it was the greatest battle of his life. He went it alone he set a bound, he let no one hinder him. Daniel, the King had set a decree, not to pray to any God for 30 days but Daniel continued to pray 3 times per day. That was his bounds that were set, he let nothing hinder even though it meant the lion’s den. If we set bounds, have clear borders with regard to our fellowship with God, we will have a deep reverence and respect for the boundaries that Jesus set and we would not want to alter them in any way. Jesus gave his life and blood for these borderlines. Psalms 147:12, "For He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee, He maketh peace in thy borders."
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