"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

Monday, November 21, 2011

Numbers 34 - Boundaries

Boundaries are an important thing and in this case, the Lord is giving boundaries of the land to the nation of Israel.
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give these instructions to the Israelites: When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your special possession, these will be the boundaries.
But boundaries exist in all kinds of situations and pressing or passing boundaries can have consequences. In this case, God was telling them the extent of what God was giving them. Passing beyond those boundaries would mean  trying to take things God had not giving and God would not be with them to conquer.

We all have personal boundaries too. Have you ever been in a situation where you have crossed someone's personal boundaries? There certainly can be consequences. A situation that has the potential to be wonderful and joy-filled can take become negative. The difficulty is that sometimes it is hard to read boundaries and know what they are and you can cross them not knowing and not wanting to.

It is much easier when the boundaries are well defined. God gives very clear instructions to the Israelites and this makes it very easy to stay within the boundaries (although I am sure there were temptations to exceed them). When you don't know the boundaries, it is much more challenging and risky.

My best advice is to talk to God and talk to other people to identify boundaries so that you can stay within the area of blessing and acceptability. Also, don't assume that another person's boundaries are the same as yours.

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