I was recently in Kansas City with my wife and daughter spending some time getting away and visiting some old friends. While we were there I was able to have a very encouraging and engaging conversation with our friend Sara’s husband, Chris. Although I don’t know him that well, it was great to be able to discuss a wide variety of topics (mostly of the spiritual nature) that interest me and are relevant to my current status in life.
Among the topics discussed was that of life boundaries and how it’s almost as if God has given us a guardrail. If we live outside the boundary of the guardrail, we live in a false sense of freedom. We do what we want, when we want and how we want thus becoming not free, but instead a slave to our own sin. When we choose to hang onto the rail because it is the standard that God has given us, we become fixated on it. Soon we are leading a legalistic life; believing that we have to do everything “by the Book” and if we or anyone else doesn’t they should be condemned. We focus on all the things we can’t do or shouldn’t do outside of the guardrail. But there is a whole other dimension to the boundaries God has given us.
Within the guardrail is all that God has given us, the ability to do all the things that we can do and therein lies the blessing of true spiritual freedom. In His word God teaches us the difference between living a life outside of His boundaries and a life lived within the blessed life that He has intended for us. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 NASB). God has given us boundaries not simply to define the difference between right and wrong, but rather to show a contrast between a life of pain and suffering, and a life of joy and fulfillment.
So where do we choose to live our life? Do we live a life of slavery and a false sense of freedom? Perhaps we spend our time on the guardrail believing that God has given us a rulebook and slip into a life of legalism where we never venture too far into a sinful or God-filled life. But how many of us realize that there is so much more behind the boundary of the guardrail. Behind the guardrail is the life of abundance, joy, fulfillment and true freedom that we desire for our lives. The guardrail shows us not what we’re missing out on beyond it, but rather all the blessings we have within it.
