Boundaries

Acts 17:28a - ...for in Him we live and move and have our being.

As I read this scripture I saw a note in the margin of my Bible: our boundary.

We all know about boundaries. We have them in everything we do in our lives. We have boundaries in relationships...some are close, some are not. There are boundaries with what we eat...I'll eat that but not that. There are boundaries about where we will live...I like the country but don't ask me to live in the city, Arizona but not Florida! There are boundaries about the music we listen to...the books we read...the type of people we want as friends. You understand. I believe some of the choices we make are boundaries.

Another word study...a simple one this time. A boundary, according to Webster, is "something that indicates or fixes a limit or extent." In the Old Testament the definition was that of territory coming from a root word meaning "to border or set bounds." I wondered why there was nothing in the New Testament other than the "border of the hem of their garments." Perhaps the boundary had been set in the OT in the laws, the commandments. When Jesus came He did not come to eliminate the law, but to fulfill it. He became the boundary.

It suddenly occurred to me, though, that as a Christian I have boundaries as well. My boundaries should be within Him. I should set my standards according to His. He is to be our boundary. I realized that all that He has written in the Bible is a boundary. It is our tool for right and wrong and what He expects.

In Psalm 16 I noted the boundaries:

• In You I put my trust (vs 1)
• My goodness is nothing apart from You (vs 2)
• You are my portion (vs 5)
• You give me counsel (vs 7)
• You are at my right hand (vs 8)
• You are my redemption (vs 10)
• You are my path of life, fullness of joy, eternal pleasures (vs 11)

Any promise of God is set up within those boundaries. Without those boundaries we are not secure. It's all about that relationship we need to have with our Father, with Jesus. If we maintain those godly boundaries, we are secure in them. We have nothing to fear, we have someone who will hear us when we call, we have the assurance of eternal life in Christ. It's all about being "in Him," "in relationship." "In" denotes a boundary: on the inside, within. His boundaries are not to cause us discomfort but to feel freedom within.

Colossians 2:3, 10 - in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge...and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.