I am a freedom lover. But I also believe in boundaries. True freedom is only found in the boundaries that God assigns for us. A train running on its tracks is free to go anywhere the tracks take it. However, if the train decides it doesn’t want the confinement of tracks and veers off, it would be destroyed.

God puts boundaries on nature. God has put limits on the seas and the oceans. Psalm 104:9 says: “Thou hast set a bound (for the waters) that they may not pass over.”

Proverbs 8:29 says: “He gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment . . .”

God gave the angels of Heaven their boundary. Jude 1:6 (GW) tells us: “They (the angels) were held in darkness, bound by eternal chains. These are the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but abandoned their assigned place.”

 

God masterminded the holy estate of marriage, the most beautiful estate on earth when we live it according to God’s plans. But God has placed boundaries on marriage. When a couple are joined as one on their wedding day, they enter into the exclusivity of marriage. We don’t share our marriage with anyone else. Oh yes, we open our homes and lives to encompass people, but our marriage is sacred. We will not embark on a personal relationship with someone of the opposite sex apart from with our husband.

God has given to women a powerful domain over which to rule. God planned for women to be queen of their homes and be the continuers of godly generations revealing the likeness and image of God. God does not intend us to enter the realm of the male domain. Of course, we can if we want, but it will not be to our detriment. God’s blessings are poured out in the domain that He gives to us. And our domain, mother, is a glorious domain.

I love David’s confession in Psalm 6:5, 6 (GW): “Your boundary lines mark out pleasant (delightful) places for me. Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.”

I love the CJB version: “Pleasant places were measured out for me; I am CONTENT with my heritage.” It is a beautiful thing when we are content within the boundaries that God assigns to us. In these boundary lines we have the greatest freedom because God is also the author of freedom. He wants us to live free.

The words of Jeremiah 5:22, 23 are challenging: “Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people hath a revolting and rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.”

Wow, God uses the example of how even the oceans, although they roar and toss, cannot pass God’s boundary lines. And yet, unbelievably, His people do it. God mandated boundaries for His people Israel. He gave them laws and decrees, not to imprison them but to bless them, to make them healthy, and to make them His special and chosen people in all the world. But they didn’t want it. “They are revolted and gone!”

This is often our testimony of many women in the church today. They don’t understand that God’s truths do not inhibit us. They set us free. But they don’t want freedom within their boundaries. They want their own kind of freedom. God mandated for women to be in the home. But where are they? Most homes in America are empty today. The mothers have REVOLTED AND GONE!

This passage continues in verse 25: “Your sins have withholden GOOD THINGS from you.” We miss out on the “GOOD THINGS” when we move away from the boundaries God has assigned for us.

Let’s embrace all that God has for us and live in the fullness of the blessings He longs for us.

Drawing you back to His glorious ways, Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“I thank you, Father God, that You have planned for mothers to raise their children in the home. You designed the concept of the home. You love the home. Please help me to love my home and to remember that my home is the most powerful sphere You have given me to raise mighty sons and daughters for Your kingdom and for the eternal world. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

Home is my favorite place!