Week 44 --- Jeremiah 5:22-25

Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD.
“Should you not tremble in my presence?
I made the sand a boundary for the sea,
an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.
The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail;
they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts;
they have turned aside and gone away.
They do not say to themselves,
‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives autumn and spring rains in season,
who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’
Your wrongdoings have kept these away;
your sins have deprived you of good.



How are you with boundaries?


I was at the Gulf of Mexico a few weeks ago and my first instinct is to be impressed by the beauty and size of the water, but maybe the truly amazing part was the sand under my feet.

The water may be amazing, but the sand creates the boundary of how far the water can go.

So much of scripture gives us examples of boundaries. Things we should or shouldn't do. Man, even the first instructions God gave Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden --- you can have all this, just don't cross this boundary with this tree. And they did it. And we do it. All the time. What the heck.

I feel a twinge of guilt in reading this scripture this week. The line about their stubborn and rebellious hearts might be about me. I am quick to push the line and take things to where I think they should go, not where God has guided and directed me.

Are you the kind of person that parks on the side of the red line that you are supposed to?? It's a simple rule .... a very simple boundary....

What if you're wearing your favorite peep-toe shoes in the newly freezing winter weather? And the red line is this far away....



I don't like rules! Especially ones that inconvenience me. In fact, in this instance I parked illegally until I had received the maximum amount of warnings and the next step was getting towed --- and I will now follow your little rule. Turns out rules that result in $200 towing fees grab my attention a little quicker I guess.

I think the boundaries God creates for us are undoubtedly designed for our good. He wants what is absolutely best for us. And I'm pretty sure it's so painfully obvious to Him, that it's got to be frustrating when we don't follow His direction.

There is this trash compactor at work. I put cardboard in this thing like once a week, so we spend some time together. For those unfamiliar with this process, the place where the stickers are is a door that opens and you put your boxes or cardboard pieces in, and then a huge metal "crushing mechanism" squeezes it all together into compacted trash.

Here's the thing that interests me. On the front of this contraption is a sign that says Do Not Enter. There used to be a sign that said "Do not climb in the hopper"

There is not a darn thing that would make me climb into a trash compactor. It's so obvious. The sign seems so funny to me in that there's a need to even say it?? Do not climb into a big metal piece of machinery that's sole job is to crush things. Check. Not climbing in.

But that's how I think the sins that are boundaries that we push have got to look to God. Do not climb in the trash compactor ----  do not have sex, do not try to control everything, do not cling to the things of this world -- they're all boundaries, but we push them. God says a clear and powerful no. And we give a long list of whiney excuses of why it's ok for us.

Do you drive the speed limit? Probably not. We've determined that the socially acceptable policy is to go about 4 mph over. When we approach the speed limit we don't say to ourselves to slow down and keep it well below the directed speed, just so we can be sure we don't cross it. We fly past it and justify why it's ok, because we're just a little bit over.

I do have that stubborn and rebellious nature that the verse talks about. It's not my first instinct to fall in line and follow rules. I challenge them and break them, and then look around in confusion as things don't work out perfectly.

There's good news though. There always is with Jesus.

Life on the sand is pretty great. The balance of living the life God wants for you, a life of free will with the guide of his boundaries and direction, is perfect. It's what He wants for us. The end of this verse tells us "He gives autumn and spring rains in season and assures us of the regular weeks of harvest" He takes care of us. He provides for us. His guidance is good and his boundaries are for our benefit. In Matthew 11:30 he tells us "For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” God that I would respect and submit to the times that you tell me no. That I would not question, but that I would trust.

The whole time I've been writing about God's boundaries and the times that God says no, I have been giddy excited and just rushing to get to the part where God says yes. Can you feel the chills? There is so much he says Yes to for us.

For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

I heard a speaker say one time that all of God's anwers are Yes and Amen in Jesus. It makes me smile.

God forgive me. Yes and Amen!
God teach me. Yes and Amen!
God create in me a clean heart. Yes and Amen!
God use me for your purpose. Yes and Amen!
God be patient with me. Yes and Amen!
God I don't know how to love like you, help me. Yes and Amen!

See where I'm going??? It's great! Seek after His purpose, His guidance, His direction, His will and the anwers are always Yes and Amen! (In my mind, the Yes and Amen is shouted and resounding. It's a victory. It's not just mumbled, it's an exciting thing.) :) :) 

Oh friends, this got long. Thank you for reading my thoughts. I love you all and appreciate your encouragement in my life. 

Beth