“Respect the Boundaries”

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

On Sunday, news agencies everywhere learned the story from a zoo in Arizona about a woman who had been attacked and injured by a jaguar in the zoo. The jaguar had not escaped from its enclosure; rather, the woman had climbed over a barrier meant to keep people at a safe distance so that she could get close enough to take a selfie.

There is an obvious lesson for us in that: the importance of respecting boundaries. Healthy boundaries are necessary. They are not just in place to oppress us and rob us of our freedom; they are usually there for our good. This is especially true of the rules, statutes, and regulations laid down in God's word. Yes, they constrain us in some ways, but they do so in order to keep us safe and give us true freedom to enjoy life as God has intended it. (It seems especially appropriate in light of Sunday's news story to point out that the boundaries God has established will keep us safe from a big cat that intends to harm us [cf. 1 Pet. 5:9]).

So appreciate God's boundaries as outlined in the Scriptures. Appreciate that he has given us some "thou-shalt-not's" in order to keep us safe. Know the boundaries. Be grateful for them. And respect them in your daily choices.
 
- Dan Lankford, minister

[Side note: since Sunday, the woman has confessed her fault in Sunday's incident.]

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