Boundaries.

"Stay away from the road!"
I can still hear my Mom's voice. Warning me to remain within the confines of our yard.
I was probably 8 or 9 at the time and I was pretending to be a football player. I was by myself of course so I had to pretend I was making incredible catches against imaginary opponents. At that time we lived on a corner lot, so their was a road that ran in front of our house and a road on the side. A garage created a wall on the other side, and while I had a huge back yard to play in, I usually played close to the house. Mom was in the house so I knew that if I needed something she was really close.
There was always something cool going on in the shop across the road. Guys would be welding and grinding on things, making cool looking sparks. Also I learned new words that Mom and Dad didn't use.
But I didn't dare cross the road. It would not go well for me if I did.
Now I will openly admit that I haven't always stayed within the boundaries in my life. You probably haven't either.
In fact, human beings have always had trouble living within boundaries.
Just think about Adam and Eve, they had a BIG yard to play in. God said here and no farther. Enjoy this place, but stay away from this tree, it will kill you.
We all know how that worked out.
Want a more modern example?
There are people who are paid to come up with a safe speed for us to travel in our cars. I don't believe they meet in a secret place and say "let's mess with people, let's come up with a speed that people will hate". Speed limits are boundaries that are there to keep us safe.
If you've driven very long at all you know people, for the most part, ignore these boundaries.
By ignoring them however does not mean they don't exist. I might say that I believe there is no speed limit, but that probably would not fly with a police officer.
As our culture evolves, we desire less boundaries. Think about television of the 70's, now think about television today. Are the boundaries different?
We keep pushing the boundaries farther and farther. We see what's across the road, and we want to be able to go across. It looks so good and inviting. Cool looking sparks and new words.
And we want a God that says, "sure, go ahead, I know how cool that must look. Just be careful." There are even those who claim to be God's heralds that tell people that it's okay to ignore the boundaries, God understands. They draw decent crowds because that message is so cool.
But that's not the God I read about in the Bible.
And speaking of God's Word I would be the first to agree that men have sometimes tried to set boundaries on God's behalf. The Pharisees did it, some do it today.
If I read the Word, I begin to see the actual boundaries. I understand that I haven't been good. I need forgiveness for leaving the yard. Jesus took the punishment that I deserved.
And now I'm a child of the King.
It's not that my desire to check out the cool stuff across the street has went away, but I know if I stay close to my heavenly Father, He will keep me and provide for me. He wants the very best for me. He has given me an opportunity to serve Him, to help Him.
I know I need to stay in the yard.
Because boundaries are for my benefit.