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."