Acts 15:28-29
"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well."
Whether we like it or not, we all need boundaries in our lives. Boundaries keep us safe on the highways. Boundaries give us a chance for success on the job. Boundaries contribute to the well-being of society. Boundaries protect our relationship with the Lord. Boundaries govern our journeys.
As the early church learned, the Spirit is all about boundaries. Through the Spirit, God led the apostles to place boundaries on the freedoms from the Mosaic law which all believers rightfully claim in Christ.
Under the Spirit's boundaries, freedom in Christ does not give us a license to sin, and neither does it give us a license to cause others to doubt their faith. Boundaries are needed to protect us from the law and from freedoms apart from the law.
But here's the key. Boundaries are not a matter of what we think is right to do. Instead, they are about hearing from the Lord as to what he says is right to do. Society can't set religious boundaries. Church government doesn't set religious boundaries. Our own wills don't determine right and wrong. These come from God's revealed will in his Scriptures and from the whisper of the Spirit in our souls.
I know there have been times in my life I've not been interested in God's boundaries. I set them myself and didn't bother to look to the Lord. Sometimes, stepping over these boundaries placed me in the situation of a trespass against my family, or friends, or Lord. At those times, I realized I needed the Lord's boundaries.
Yes, we have freedom in Christ. But also, we look to the Spirit for God's boundaries.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for boundaries and your Spirit who steers my life accordingly. May I not rebel from your boundaries, but to accept these in faith. Amen.
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